Four-star OLB connects with Harsin
AUBURN | Bryan Harsin has a plan for the future of Auburn football.
The Tigers’ second-year coach would like Dee Crayton to be a part of that plan to help return the program back into a championship contender.
Crayton, a 4-star outside linebacker from Denmark in Alpharetta, Ga., attended AU’s Junior Day on Saturday.
“It was great. Having a conversation with Coach Harsin and my dad being around and him selling the plan … and how me and Coach Harsin want to be the best and how they’re going to build the facility and how they’re going to build the team,” said Crayton.
“I like that building because, me personally, my school, we’re pretty new. Only our fourth year. Our coach came in like Coach Harsin and he started building the team, started working on the program and bringing players in and trying to be the best like how Auburn is trying to do right now. There’s a lot of similarities, which I like.”
Crayton, 6-foot-1 and 216 pounds, has close to 20 offers including Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Maryland, Cincinnati and UCF.
“I like Auburn a lot,” said Crayton. “They’re definitely one of my top schools. There’s a lot of schools considering me but Auburn, the way they make me feel like family and the way they treat me, the way they showed me how I fit in the scheme and how they can build the scheme around me and how I can compete day one, is what I really appreciate. So they’re definitely high on my list.”
Crayton plans to narrow his list of schools later this summer and make a commitment right before or during his senior season. He’s planning plenty of more school visits between now and then including a return to Auburn.
“I’ll be back in the spring to see the spring practices and see how they compete and see how the coaches coach and teach,” he said. “That’s exactly what I want to see so I can see if I’ll be able to be coached by these great coaches and see if I can fit in with the team and the linebackers."
Crayton is ranked by Rivals as the nation’s No. 131 overall prospect in the 2023 class.