Josh Newberg, national host for On3 Sports, tells McElroy & Cubelic if Auburn can keep this hot streak running, what Alabama does best during official visits, and why Texas should be on everyone's radar
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McElroy and Kulik in the Morning starts now.

all right welcome back in mackleroy and cuba lake in the morning 8 30 a.m tuesday august 6 right here on jocks 94.5 list online jocksfm.com app is in your app store iphone android you can always download that for free tell that home smart speaker to enable the jock skill and you can always listen to us that way i'm going to talk a little bit more recruiting around the sec as it continues to be

Exciting and ramped up for multiple Southeastern Conference programs. Josh Newberg joining us now to discuss it. You can find him at On3. You can find him on Twitter at Josh underscore Newberg. Josh, let's start with Auburn and just the momentum that Hugh Freeze is continuing to carry through Big Cat weekend. They go get Wayne Henry yesterday, third player from his high school that's committed. How much longer can this momentum continue for Hugh Freeze and his staff?

Man, a little bit more. I mean, it is the planes are on fire right now coming out of the summer. But yeah, there's a little bit more left. Auburn has 22 commitments. And obviously the big rumor, what we've been talking about here at on three, see what fun right a big story on Friday. And we've been talking about it since. But, you know, Notre Dame quarterback Deuce Knight, he's from Mississippi. He's been solidly committed to Notre Dame for almost a year now.

And the rumors are he's flipping to Auburn. So that would be a huge one. He's a top 10 quarterback in the country. I believe he's in there at like number seven. Auburn, you know, flirted a little bit with Julian Lewis, but that started to fade away sometime in June. I kind of recognize that. I wasn't sure what direction they were exactly going to go because they were in on Hooson Longstreet out of California who went to Texas A&M, but it looks like Deuce Knight is

is the guy that Auburn wants. And yeah, there's a little bit more meat left on the bone for Auburn recruiting. If they were to get this commitment and they were to flip Deuce Knight, what exactly would Hugh Freeze and his staff be getting? An unbelievable athletic, quarterback,

with all the tools, somebody that fits the modern college football systems of being able to throw it deep but also being able to run. I mean, he's all of 6'4", 200 pounds, entering his senior year of high school. So the frames there, the athleticism's there, the arms there, the

He's playing in the state of Mississippi, so he understands football in the South, and he'd be a huge addition. Not only just the fact that he's a quarterback, but he could come in with another five-star. We're talking Caleb Cunningham, the five-star wide receiver, number one player in the state of Mississippi, is committed to Alabama.

But at one time, he did name Auburn his leader back in June. It feels like a while ago now, but Deuce Knight and Caleb Cunningham, that would be a nice package deal coming to Auburn. It's a couple steps away, but they've got to get the flip, but that is a possibility.

All right, so Auburn momentum going to continue. Looks like things are heading in the right direction. Josh Newberg joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline with the On3 Sports Network. Kalen DeBoer, I think, has exceeded most people's expectations in recruiting, mainly just because there are a lot of people that thought it couldn't be close to what Nick Saban was doing and it was going to take a massive dip. It has not. Based on what you've heard, who you've talked to, why has it been this good year one for Kalen DeBoer?

Well, you're right. The expectations. I mean, hey, there was a lot of Alabama fans. It wasn't just people. Let's get this straight. There was a lot of Alabama fans out there that were skeptical that Kalen DeBoer had what it took, at least in year one, to come in and recruit the Southwell. They've used their California connections, but they have recruited the Southwell, too. The thing that I've noticed...

that maybe stood out to me the most about Alabama and what they've done this summer is I don't think during official visit month of June, when all the visits went down across the country, I don't think anybody...

turned official visits into commitments better than Alabama. And I think that that comes from relationships being direct. I mean, they have guys. You don't see this in this day and age. You know, Cole, when you were a recruit, guys would take their official visits and commit on Sunday, and they would go home and tell the local newspaper, and that would be it. Well, nowadays, these guys want to make decisions.

decision dates. They want to be in an auditorium. Well, Alabama this summer, they threw all that out the window. They just had guys visiting and a day later they were committing to Alabama and nobody really in the country locked down recruits in the month of June better than Alabama. And that's why, you know, right now they're sitting at number two, just a hair behind Ohio State, but they were number one in the country in recruiting. And that

That in itself is remarkable because there were a lot of people that were doubting that at least in year one, Kaelin DeBoer could come in and do this.

All right, Josh Newberg joining us on the Biosphere Hotline talking recruiting. Feels like Tennessee on a bit of an upswing right now also. A lot of momentum there with Josh Heupel's staff and what's happening in Knoxville. How high can they climb maybe the national rankings by the time it's said and done with this class and then maybe the following class as well? I know a big quarterback commit for Heupel and his staff earlier this week.

Yeah, they got Andre's number one 2026 quarterback in Faison Brent. Now he's out of North Carolina. We'll put that one to the side. He's 2026. He is the best quarterback in that class. But moving back to 2025 this year, getting George McIntyre on board early. He's from Brentwood Academy in Nashville, so he's local to Knoxville. He's been in on all these big visit weekends. He's been their ace recruiter. He's made a big difference. And the one piece that they need –

I hate to say it's make or break because you're going to have 25 really good players in this class, but David Sanders, the number one offensive tackle in America, is going to make his decision in under two weeks. August 17th, he's going to make his decision, and it's coming down to either

Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio State, or Georgia. And honestly, right now, I think it's more of a Tennessee-Nebraska race with Ohio State and Georgia just on the outside looking in. But this is a huge recruitment for Tennessee because remember, they were in on Jordan Seaton last year, the number one offensive tackle. He ends up committing to Colorado. So both Ohio State and Tennessee were runners-up for the

for the number one offensive tackle in America. This time, the number one offensive tackle in America. One of those two programs, again, is going to be runner-up for him. Newberg, joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline, talking recruiting. Is there a team that's maybe out there in the SEC? I know Georgia's had success and they're doing fine, but maybe you're just waiting for them to break out a little bit and finally be on par with some of these other schools in this cycle or maybe the following cycle? Texas. Texas.

And I know they're new to the SEC, so some fans are saying Texas. But, yeah, Texas is sitting in 15 right now. But they have five five-star targets making decisions this month. Tomorrow will be five-star wide receiver Khalil Glockett. All the experts have him trending to Texas. That would be their first five-star commit in this class. They're sitting at number 15. That would instantly move them much closer to the top.

top 10, then there's four more five stars that are deciding this month. And I think there's a good chance that Texas lands at least one or two more. But if things really go the right way and they say they land three, four, or maybe even five, I mean, you're talking a top three finish or a top three class at the end of August.

Going from 15 into the top three, it's potentially there. Now, I don't think they're going to land all five, but I do think as it stands right now, Texas has zero five stars on its commit list. I think by the time August ends, they will have multiple five stars on their commit list.

You think about sort of where we are with NIL and recruiting kind of across the landscape. It feels like that financially a lot of things have evened out and maybe your elite recruiters are beginning to sort of resurface. Not that they were completely gone when NIL first showed up and got a little bit out of control.

But it feels like that's sort of leveled the playing field to a certain extent for the schools that can be there. And now those guys that can just go develop the relationships and get kids are starting to sort of shine a little bit more. Is that how you guys see it in the recruiting world a little bit?

I think I see it in some recruitments. So in the beginning, you're right, the market was wild, right? Like there was no real feel for what market value was at each position. Now I think there's a better feel for market value. Now, of course, if you're willing to bust that market value, you know, and make a kid make a financial decision, that's still possible. But I think less and less teams are willing to really go above and

and beyond what the market bears. So that being said, yeah, I do agree. If the money's equal, then what's the decision come back down to? Relationships, playing time, you know, all the old things that recruiting used to be. So, yeah, I think in certain cases –

In a lot of cases, when the money is equal, when teams are like, hey, this is what we value you at, all three teams involved value you at the same, well, then the decision comes back down to old school recruiting relationships and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I think in some cases we do see NIL win out. But in some cases, if NIL's even, yeah, it's back to old school recruiting.

Who's the next big commitment that's scheduled that we need to be aware of, need to be watching? Like, who's next up? Well, tomorrow we got Kalik Lockett. He's out of Sachse, Texas. And, you know, his...

Alabama has been making a late run at him. They landed Keelan Russell out of Duncanville, Texas, and they're friends. Alabama's trying to make this interesting, but I think ultimately he's going to end up at Texas. But later this month, we got another five-star wide receiver, Jamie French, out of the state of Florida. Miami's making a late surge at him, but Texas is heavily involved. He's another five-star. We talked about David Sanders. Michael Fasusi, he's another uncommitted playmaker.

five-star out of the state of Texas, a big offensive tackle that visited Florida State late. He visited Oklahoma. Texas is the favorite there. So there's some big decisions coming down. A lot of guys off the board in June and July, but there's a lot of top-tier talent that waited until August to make their decisions.

Josh, Cleek Lockett, Sachse, Texas, S-A-C-H-S-E. What is his high school's name? Do you have any idea? Do you know? Is it Sachse High School?

And he said, Saxxy. And I was like, oh, that's easy. Okay. And now I just can't stop saying it. If their school fight song is not, I'm Saxxy and I know it, I don't know what we're doing. We're just doing it wrong. They're missing it. That's not it. Exactly. Josh, great stuff, man. Thanks for giving us some updates around recruiting. Appreciate your time. We'll do it again soon.

All right, man. Anytime you want to talk recruiting, we love to do it here at On3. Thank you. There you go. Josh Newberg with the On3 Sports Network. Follow him on Twitter at Josh underscore Newberg. Some good recruiting news there for both Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee. SEC just kind of collectively seems to be trending up a little bit. I'm sassy and I know it. Should that be the high school fight song there? Obviously. I mean, what else could it be? I don't really know of anything else you could throw in there.

Maybe I'm sexing it, I know it by LMFAO, but that feels too recent. Not the way I would have pronounced it. Just kind of thought maybe. Color me bad, I want to sax you up. All right. Yeah, interesting. All right, we'll see. Texas, by the way, surprised that they're not keeping up with some of the Joneses because I think we thought with where NIL was, it was all going to be way ahead of the curve there. All right, that's a little bit of a recruiting update from Josh Newberg. On the other side,

I want to go back to the coaches poll and have a little bit of a conversation about certain teams and where they rank and why. We'll do it next on Mac and Cube in the morning.

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