Riddick: 'I'm just ready to be there'
Demarcus Riddick can't wait to run out of the tunnel at Jordan Hare Stadium.
He's locked in with the Tigers, and has been for a while, but with each passing day he's closer to what he's been working toward. Soon enough, he'll leave his hometown of Clanton, Ala., for the Plains and suit up for the Auburn Tigers, not the Chilton County Tigers.
"I’m just ready to be there," Riddick said. "I don’t want to leave my hometown, but I’m ready to go play college ball because college ball, it’s so serious."
Although Benjamin Russell spoiled Chilton County's senior night Friday, defeating the Tigers 50-7, it was still a special evening for the four-star linebacker commit. He got to play in front of his future linebackers' coach, Josh Aldridge.
"To be honest with you, seeing him here it was exciting," Riddick said. "Just seeing him here is like ‘Oh yeah, it’s my time.' It’s senior night, gotta turn up for senior night, and knowing he’s here, I gotta turn up for him too, so it’s been great seeing him here."
Riddick was most recently in Auburn to watch the Tigers take on the top-ranked team in the nation and the program he was previously committed to — Georgia. Although Auburn didn't come away with the upset victory, it was encouraging to see how competitive of a game it was, even with Auburn as heavy underdogs.
"I had fun because I know that Auburn’s good enough to compete with any team in the nation," Riddick said. "We competed with the No. 1 team in the nation, what do you think we’re gonna do with the rest of these teams we get ready to play?"
With what Riddick described as a "great" atmosphere inside Jordan Hare Stadium, he kept a close eye on how the defense operated, noting how the linebackers were "flying to the ball" and the defensive backs were "locking stuff up". It gives him a lot of confidence in the future of the defense.
"It just gives me the momentum of knowing that ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna be able to do the things they’re doing," Riddick said.
Riddick is Auburn's highest-rated commit in the 2024 class, ranked No. 25 in the nation. He plans to attend every home game this fall.