2021 3* RB Jarquez Hunter Signs With AU!

[ellitor 33,062]

17 hours ago, Randman5000 said:

Also why wasn't he recruited by more schools?

@Randman5000 we are in the Covid era therefore there weren’t many eyes on him and he couldn’t go to camps to show himself out to teams and evaluators.

[Sizzle 3,909]

Did this casually in boots

 

[Beaker 2,457]

he has hops...

 

[JDUBB4AU 5,102]

Just a killer athlete 

[Paladin 3,305]

 

[Beaker 2,457]

5 minutes ago, Paladin said:

 

Dang right Skippy!   

 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

35 minutes ago, Paladin said:

 

Okay, now I'm on board. I knew he was from Mississippi but I didn't know he was country. 

The GOAT and arguably the next best after him = country ass dudes. Throw Nick Marshall, Reese Dismukes and who knows how many others in there. 

And dude quoted Ronnie Lott? Arguably one of the 10 meanest dudes to ever play the game?

[Beaker 2,457]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Okay, now I'm on board. I knew he was from Mississippi but I didn't know he was country. 

The GOAT and arguably the next best after him = country ass dudes. Throw Nick Marshall, Reese Dismukes and who knows how many others in there. 

And dude quoted Ronnie Lott? Arguably one of the 10 meanest dudes to ever play the game?

Come on now...you knew he was from Miss and thought he was from 'the city'?   Which city?  

And from Neshoba HS.    What is a Neshoba anyway?    Heck, I can't even pronounce Neshoba and I am probably misspelling it.    He may not have travelled 100 miles from his HS....I like this his profile also.  

 

I once had a soldier in the Army the guys were teasing and come to find out ol' Rollins was from Georgia and I knew that.  I just didn't know how country he was though.   They were teasing him because he hadn't been outside his county and then he argued that he had been to Atlanta (on his bus ride to basic training).  And no the bus didn't stop in Atlanta.  He was adamant that he 'had been to Atlanta.'

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, Beaker said:

Come on now...you knew he was from Miss and thought he was from 'the city'?   Which city?  

And from Neshoba HS.    What is a Neshoba anyway?    Heck, I can't even pronounce Neshoba and I am probably misspelling it.    He may not have travelled 100 miles from his HS....I like this his profile also.  

 

I once had a soldier in the Army the guys were teasing and come to find out ol' Rollins was from Georgia and I knew that.  I just didn't know how country he was though.   They were teasing him because he hadn't been outside his county and then he argued that he had been to Atlanta (on his bus ride to basic training).  And no the bus didn't stop in Atlanta.  He was adamant that he 'had been to Atlanta.'

Dude, we've had guys from every podunk corner of every state in the deep south but my dude is *on a horse*. 

Hilarious ATL story.

[Tiger Refuge 6,660]

4 hours ago, Beaker said:

Come on now...you knew he was from Miss and thought he was from 'the city'?   Which city?  

And from Neshoba HS.    What is a Neshoba anyway?    Heck, I can't even pronounce Neshoba and I am probably misspelling it.    He may not have travelled 100 miles from his HS....I like this his profile also.  

 

I once had a soldier in the Army the guys were teasing and come to find out ol' Rollins was from Georgia and I knew that.  I just didn't know how country he was though.   They were teasing him because he hadn't been outside his county and then he argued that he had been to Atlanta (on his bus ride to basic training).  And no the bus didn't stop in Atlanta.  He was adamant that he 'had been to Atlanta.'

Pronounced “nih-SHO-buh”

Home of the Neshoba County Fair,  Dancing Rabbit Golf course, and the MS Band of Choctaw Indians. “Close by” towns are Bogue Chitto(there are actually two of these in the state) Noxapater, and Sebastapol. And this ends your Neshoba Co lesson for the day. I’ll show myself out.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

6 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Okay, now I'm on board. I knew he was from Mississippi but I didn't know he was country. 

The GOAT and arguably the next best after him = country ass dudes. Throw Nick Marshall, Reese Dismukes and who knows how many others in there. 

And dude quoted Ronnie Lott? Arguably one of the 10 meanest dudes to ever play the game?

Those country boys are a different kind of SKRONG!

 

[Tiger Refuge 6,660]

1 hour ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Those country boys are a different kind of SKRONG!

 

You ain’t ever lying. Met a dude years ago that hauled pulpwood for a living. Hand loaded on a “short wood” truck. Shook his hand. Well, he crushed mine inadvertently. “Country strong”.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Those country boys are a different kind of SKRONG!

Strong, humble, hard working, mean... They can be a lot of things you want in a football player.

[Paladin 3,305]

 

It took luck for Jarquez Hunter to get to Auburn football, and the Tigers are lucky to have him

JOSH VITALE | MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER | 10:29 am CDT June 9, 2021

If Auburn football had offered Jarquez Hunter a scholarship during his sophomore year of high school, the running back would have shut his recruitment down right then.

He grew up liking the Tigers even though his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi, is much closer to Bulldogs and Rebels territory. He visited both Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Tennessee, too.

But as soon as Neshoba Central High coach Patrick Schoolar took him to Auburn, “it was over with.”

“That was just the school he wanted to be at,” Schoolar said.

It’s where he ended up. Hunter signed with Auburn in February and moved in last week. He’s going to have a chance to play a key role in a running back room that is thin behind star Tank Bigsby and senior Shaun Shivers, with senior Devan Barrett (who spent the past two seasons playing cornerback) and Central Michigan transfer Jordon Ingram serving as the only other depth.

But Hunter needed some luck to get there. He didn’t have a scholarship offer when he left his visit to Auburn two years ago. He didn’t receive one until January of this year. Had it not been for a global pandemic, coaching change and three entries into the transfer portal by Auburn backs, it might not have happened.

Now that it has, though, Schoolar believes the Tigers are the lucky ones.

“I’m not trying to be arrogant, but I don’t think they really understand what they got,” he said. “I think they’re starting to realize now that they may have stole one."

Jarquez Hunter's path to Auburn

Hunter’s numbers are impressive. He’s 5-foot-11 and 197 pounds, making him just slightly smaller than Bigsby. He averaged 223 carries, 1,920 rushing yards (8.6 per attempt) and 25 touchdowns over his final three seasons at Neshoba Central. He was named the Class 5A Mr. Football in November. He ran the 100-yard dash in 11.09 seconds to finish sixth at the state meet in May.

So it’s a little hard to believe that he was so lightly recruited. Hunter was a three-star prospect ranked 706th nationally and 44th among running backs. Ole Miss offered him in 2019, but that was under former coach Matt Luke – Lane Kiffin’s staff didn’t show much interest. Mississippi State didn’t offer until October last year. LSU coaches told him they liked his film, but they never offered.

Hunter’s top schools entering his senior season were Tulane and Memphis, with Virginia and Vanderbilt showing some interest.

COVID-19 had a lot to do with that, Schoolar said. The visits and camps that could have raised Hunter's stock in the eyes of coaches and recruiting services during the crucial summer after his junior year were all cancelled.

That turned out to be a good thing for the Tigers, who weren’t looking too hard at running backs at the time. Shivers, D.J. Williams, Harold Joiner and Mark-Antony Richards were returning. Bigsby was joining. Auburn had another four-star, Armoni Goodwin, committed in the 2021 class.

The need at running back didn’t arise until January, after Williams, Joiner and Richards transferred and Goodwin backed off his commitment to sign with LSU instead. Fortunately for the Tigers, Hunter was still out there waiting for a call.

Auburn still needed to find him, though. That’s where the change from Gus Malzahn to Bryan Harsin worked in Hunter’s favor.

Will Friend, who Harsin hired to be his offensive line coach, had been recruiting the running back for years. Like Hunter, he’s from Philadelphia and played at Neshoba Central. He offered him at Tennessee and tried to again during a brief stint at South Carolina.

Auburn offered Hunter on Jan. 11, just four days after Friend joined Harsin’s staff. The running back didn’t announce his commitment until Feb. 5, but there wasn’t much suspense – three 247Sports analysts entered crystal ball predictions for the Tigers by Jan 12.

“I am excited about this kid,” Auburn running backs coach Cadillac Williams said. “He's an awesome young man, a high character young man. He has tremendous talent. I think the opportunity – like I told him – to come in and play early is there.”

Schoolar believes Hunter will take that opportunity and run with it. The coach could go on for hours telling stories about his former star. About the time he turned a fourth-and-2 carry that was blown up in the backfield into a 40-yard touchdown. Or the time when he helped the Rockets complete a comeback from a 21-point, second-quarter deficit in a home playoff game with a one-handed interception he returned for a touchdown in the final minutes.

Last week, after his first workout at Auburn, Hunter sent a group text to his former teammates at Neshoba Central, telling them to keep working so they can one day get to where he is now.

“Nobody is going to outwork him,” Schoolar said. “I know Tank Bigsby is the No. 1 guy there, and rightfully so, but Tank is going to have to bring it every day.”

Josh Vitale is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshVitale. To reach him by email, click here.

[JDUBB4AU 5,102]

Ready to see this kid run . 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

The more I read about this young man the more I think we found a diamond in the rough in this case thanks to Pandemic and the young man not having the opportunity to hit the camp circuit.

[aucanucktiger 1,789]

Interesting. If he's 6th fastest 100m in the state, numbers 1 - 5 are apparently all defensive backs. Caught a lot from behind in those highlights. 

[aublaise 199]

20 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

Interesting. If he's 6th fastest 100m in the state, numbers 1 - 5 are apparently all defensive backs. Caught a lot from behind in those highlights. 

I had to watch the first play in his senior highlight video a couple of times to figure out that Hunter was the DB. Kind of odd for an aspiring college RB to make the first play in his highlight video to be him playing DB. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by aublaise

[DAG 33,955]

 

12 hours ago, aublaise said:

an aspiring college RB to make the first play in his highlight video to be him playing DB. 

 

He is here at Auburn. He seemingly has the right attitude and is ecstatic to be here. Probably will work his ass off and play any position the coaching staff wants. Yet look at the last two post. Realistically that initial highlight was to show his motor and his moxie to NOT QUIT. It was more than about him playing defense SMH.

Edited June 21, 2021 by DAG

[WFE12 9,191]

 

[Beaker 2,457]

Going to be interesting and see how the carries get divided those first two games.   I bet Bobo does not pull a Gus and run the snot out of RB1 for 25 min then give ALL  the remaining carries to RB2 until 2:00 are left in the game (thus risking injury to RB2 and jeopardizing our season down the road).   

 

I really hope I see some development underway.   

I am not sure Tank needs 15 carries before Penn State. 

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

On 6/19/2021 at 10:16 PM, aucanucktiger said:

Interesting. If he's 6th fastest 100m in the state, numbers 1 - 5 are apparently all defensive backs. Caught a lot from behind in those highlights. 

 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

24 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

 

The more I see of this young man the more I think this staff found a legitimate diamond in the rough. That first one shows a player making a great run on his own making people miss breaking tackles, the second one is just as impressive showing a player who never gives up and saves a TD, it also showcases his speed as he picks up a lot of ground in a short span of time.

[steeleagle 2,945]

10 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

The more I see of this young man the more I think this staff found a legitimate diamond in the rough. That first one shows a player making a great run on his own making people miss breaking tackles, the second one is just as impressive showing a player who never gives up and saves a TD, it also showcases his speed as he picks up a lot of ground in a short span of time.

That last clip shows him being the farthest behind of ANY player from the LOS as he has to turn and run full speed passing all the offensive and defensive players on that play, and catches the runner down. impressive to say the least. Relentless too....