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AUBURN | Calhoun (Ga.) three-star tight end Landon Rice is familiar with Auburn, and he should be.
Rice, 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, has been committed to the Tigers since November 2013. His brother, Logan, is enrolled at Auburn, and the younger Rice has visited many times.
Including Saturday.
Rice, ranked the No. 16 tight end in the 2016 class, was one of five recruits on campus for an unofficial visit.
"It was like coming home," Rice said. "I got to talk to a lot of the coaches. There were only five guys here so I got a lot of one-on-one time with Coach (Gus) Malzahn. He talked with me and my family, and I also got to see the new locker room and the renovations down there.
"It was just good coming back down here."
Rice's teammate and friend, three-star offensive tackle Jack DeFoor, was among the group of recruits in Auburn on Saturday. So was four-star running back Malik Miller, whom Rice has developed a friendship.
"He's one of the big-time guys we'd like to get down here at Auburn," Rice said. "Me and him are pretty good friends. He likes Auburn a lot.
"He said it's one of his top schools. He's a great guy and would be a big part of our class if he came here."
Rice's long-time commitment to Auburn remains solid, but that hasn't stopped other top schools from recruiting and offering him. He's added offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisville and Michigan all within the last few weeks.
"There's a lot of heat, a lot of new offers and a lot of coaches trying to get in touch with me," Rice said. "It's all very humbling."
But not very tempting, not when Auburn has what he's looking for.
"I've been committed to Auburn for a while," Rice said. "And I'm still committed to Auburn. I still feel very good about Auburn.
"Playing time is one reason I want to come here. It's there for me because the tight end position is not very deep. I feel like I could come in early and lock down a position."
Rice, a standout tight end and defensive end for Calhoun, finished his junior season with 13 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown, and 63 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, five sacks and two blocked punts.
Rice's junior highlight video…
