Foley 5-star receiver flips from Alabama to Auburn
Foley 5-star receiver flips from Alabama to Auburn
Foley High School senior wide receiver Perry Thompson announced at the recent Baldwin County Football Media Days that he is switching his football commitment from Alabama to Auburn.
The 5-star recruit said he made his decision to take his talent to The Plains during Big Cat Weekend, Auburn’s primary summer recruiting event created by Gene Chizik in 2009.
Ranked by some recruiting services among the top five receivers in the nation, Thompson said he felt he could more easily reach his potential and his NFL dream playing for new Auburn coach Hugh Freeze.
“I looked at Nick Saban and Hugh Freeze,” he said at Media Days. “Nick Saban is a good coach, and I have a lot of respect for what he’s done in college football. I know he kind of specializes in DBs, but I’m a receiver. That’s what I want to be, and I know Hugh Freeze has a background in developing receivers at a high level. Auburn just felt like home, and I needed that home feeling again. We are going to change Auburn around.’’
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Thompson said he plans to enroll this spring.
Chilton County’s Demarcus Riddick, who originally signed with Georgia, picked Auburn over Alabama on July 26 to give Auburn its first 5-star recruit since Owen Pappkoe in 2019. Thompson is Auburn’s highest-rated wide receiver commitment since Duke Williams in 2014, and the two recent commitments give Auburn eight of the top 25 rated players in Alabama.
Foley opens the 2023 season at home against Prattville at 7 p.m. on August 25. Season tickets for the Lions games are $70, including a parking pass.
“We want to get Auburn football back to where it was,’’ Thompson said.
To that end, Thompson told 24/7Sports.com that said he is trying to recruit 5-star Buford, Ga., safety KJ Bolden, the No. 2 senior prospect in Georgia, into this Auburn class. “I really have a strong feeling we can land him actually,” Thompson said.
Back in the Class of 2008, another heralded Foley High receiver, Julio Jones, helped get the Nick Saban era started with a bang as he signed with Alabama as the No. 1 receiver and No. 3 overall recruit in the country. After a highly successful run with the Crimson Tide, Jones became a dominant NFL receiver for the Atlanta Falcons for 10 years. Jones played for the Titans in 2021 and signed with the Bucs in 2022.
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