Official visit ends with No. 1 JUCO Dre Butler committing to Auburn
After only his second season of playing competitive football, Independence (Kan.) Community College defensive end Dre Butler earned the crown as the No. 1 ranked junior college prospect in the 2020 class. The Auburn Tigers will be the school Butler continues his college career with after the four-star announced his commitment following an official visit to The Plains.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A native of Newton, Ga., Butler was a basketball player throughout most of his prep career. He only played football during his senior season of high school. He then sat for one year before joining Independence last spring. After a breakout campaign this past season, Butler’s recruitment exploded. He took his first official visit the weekend of Dec. 13 to Maryland, then set official visits to Oklahoma, Auburn and Oregon for this month. The Oklahoma trip happened the weekend of Jan. 17, but the Oregon trip will not take place because Butler gave his commitment to Auburn before leaving his official visit with the Tigers on Sunday.
IN HIS WORDS
“The atmosphere there was amazing. I loved the energy all the coaches gave off. Coach (Gus) Malzahn kept it real with me the entire trip and he was real down to earth.”
RIVALS’ REACTION
Signing a junior college prospect usually means getting a player further ahead developmentally than his high school peers, but with Butler’s lack of on-field experience, the four-star still has plenty of upside to achieve. The bonus to that is he has four years to play out his three years of remaining eligibility because he played just one season with Independence. Butler was able to dominate to the tune of 66 total tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks while making it look effortless much of the season. All the physical tools are there and the ceiling is sky high for the newest member of Auburn’s 2020 class.