LUCEDALE, Miss. — On the first day of October, Deuce Knight went to bed with the mindset that he was going to Auburn.

When he woke up, that mindset had not changed.

The four-star quarterback out of Lucedale, Miss., had spent months mulling over his options of where he'd play football at the next level. He'd been committed to Notre Dame for over a year, but Auburn had been hard on him about playing in the SEC.

It was on Oct. 2 that Knight came to a final decision.

"When I made up my mind, I was kinda going back and forth, like ‘Hey, am I gonna stay at Notre Dame or stay at Auburn," Knight said. "I went to sleep and I was like ‘Hey, I’m going to Auburn tonight.’ I woke up with it in my mind that I was still going to Auburn. I said I’m gonna commit today and wasted no time."

Auburn had interest in Knight from the beginning, before he committed to Notre Dame. When the period opened for coaches to contact 2025 prospects, head coach Hugh Freeze was the first to call Knight. He took it a step further when coaches were able to hit the road.

"Probably a lot of people don’t know this, Coach Freeze was the first head coach to ever step foot in the school to come see me," Knight said. "When he first offered me, he came to see me. Coach Freeze recruited my brother back in 2016, so there was already familiarity with him."

Knight was also heavily recruited by Notre Dame and committed to the Fighting Irish in September of his junior year. However, Auburn got back in the picture in the summer and Freeze was relentless in his pursuit of the 6-foot-4 dual-threat QB.

"He just made an effort to come after me hard and it’s the SEC," Knight said. "Coach Freeze, the RPO offense, just gives me that ability to play ball and play out there free."

When Knight arrives on campus, he'll join an offense with one of the youngest wide receiver groups in the country, but the freshmen are already making a massive impact.

"Those guys are ballers," Knight said. "They’re freshmen, they’re babies right now. Cam (Coleman) and Perry (Thompson), I’m pretty sure they’re 18, they’re playing against grown men. Guys who probably got kids already, and those guys are making plays. Malcolm (Simmons), all of them, they’re making plays. They just left high school six months ago."

He's seen the receiving core and the rest of the Tigers in action plenty of times this season, attending all but one of Auburn's six home games. Freeze delivers the same message to Knight, and the rest of the 2025 class, before every game.

"He texts us in a group message, calls us, says this is the class that if we want to turn it around, we’re the guys to turn it around," Knight said. "He believes we’ve got the skillsets, he believes he’s recruiting all the right guys to come do it. Not just the right athletes, the right people, good people in general."

Through nine games this season, Auburn is 3-6 in year two under Freeze. However, for Knight and many other 2025 commits, the record isn't cause for concern.

They believe in the vision. They believe in Hugh Freeze. They believe in Auburn.

"If I didn’t see the vision, I wouldn’t be committed right now," Knight said. "If I didn’t think that we could turn it around, I wouldn’t be committed."

Knight will sign and enroll early.