Right at home
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AUBURN, Ala. | It didn't take long for Antonneous ClaytonClick [rl]Here to view this Link. to start feeling comfortable in Auburn. He had that feeling as soon as he stepped on campus for the first-ever time Saturday.
"I was impressed. I still felt at home," said Clayton, a four-star outside linebacker from Dooly County in Vienna, Ga. "Everybody was nice. Coach (Will) Muschamp, Coach Scott (Fountain), all of them felt like a father to me. It just felt normal for once."
Clayton, 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds, attended Auburn's Big Cat recruiting event along with his mom, dad, younger brother and trainer.
"Nobody was really pushing, they were taking the time with me to get a feel for the college and all that. That's what really stood out," he said
"Scott, Muschamp, they hit me up almost every day to check on me. The good thing about it, they don't just check on me, they check on my family too. They're tight with my family and that's a really goof thing to have with these coaches."
It went so well, in fact, Clayton had thoughts of committing.
"It was getting there," he said, "but I still want to ride the whole recruiting process out and enjoy it. This only comes around once in a lifetime."
Clayton has more than 20 offers adding Florida State, LSU and Oklahoma just last week. Other Power 5 offers include Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Clemson and Michigan State.
"It's tough man. They're all good schools but I'm going to have to go with what's the best decision for me, my parents, getting over there and coming to the games. In the end, it's my decision."
Clayton is the second cousin of Auburn junior defensive tackle Montravius Adams, who signed with the Tigers out of Dooly County in 2013.
"I don't have to worry about nobody lying to me because I can get it straight forward from him," Clayton said.
Clayton said he's going to try to return to Auburn for a second visit in the next couple of weeks.
"Auburn, I really felt like they needed me. I could really trust them, look in their eyes and tell they weren't lying to me."
Clayton had 72 tackles, 22 tackles-for-loss, 16 sacks, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a junior.
