2024 4* LB Joseph "Joe" Phillips Commits To AU!

[Rednilla 5,401]

2 hours ago, Mikey said:

Many of us did hear that, repeatedly. Add Foster and the Auburn High LB, "He who shall not be named". There are more but I think the point is proven.

Which point is proven? That high school kids change their minds? Unless you have actual evidence of Kirby orchestrating these things ahead of time, there is no proof of anything.

[yngwie1995 2,232]

He picked AU! 🙌

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

BREAKING: 4-star LB Joseph Phillips commits to Auburn

Jeffrey Lee

4-star LB Joseph Phillips has committed to the Auburn Tigers. 

Four-star linebacker Joseph Phillips, one of the top overall recruits in the country, has committed to Auburn football.

Phillips, from Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Ala., announced his decision Thursday on social media. He chose Auburn over Georgia, Clemson, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

“The family feel of it is why I chose Auburn,” he told Auburn Live. “Also, it being so close to home. My people can get up there and see games. And I’m not forcing it at Auburn. I can build my own legacy, do my own thing.”

Phillips on Wednesday informed Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and linebackers coach Josh Aldridge.

“I told Coach Freeze and Coach A (Aldridge),” he said. “Coach A didn’t know. I surprised him. He was shocked. Coach Freeze kind of already knew. He knew I was going to do it in the next 2-3 weeks, but he didn’t know I was going to do it this soon. He was definitely excited.”

Roller coaster recruitment for Phillips

Committing to Auburn and Freeze on Wednesday was a big change in plans and change of heart for Phillips. Less than 24 hours before, he was planning to head to the SEC East.

“I was about to commit to Georgia (on Tuesday),” he said.

Phillips had been high on the Bulldogs since an official visit on June 2-4. He even told Freeze during an unofficial visit to Auburn last week.

“(Freeze) knew what was up when I came up to visit last week,” he said. “I told him I was leaning towards Georgia. I didn’t sugarcoat it. We have a good relationship, so I can tell him anything and I told him what’s up. I told him UGA is where my head was at.”

So Auburn turned up the heat.

“They did a good job of rebuilding and restoring things,” he said. “We weren’t ever off, but I did feel like they were slacking a little bit.”

Auburn on Wednesday completed the restoration and secured his commitment.

“It feels great,” he said. “People will try and persuade me throughout the season because nothing is official until I sign the papers, but I feel good about Auburn. I’ve always felt good about Auburn.”

Phillips is on pace to graduate in December and enroll at Auburn in January. He does not have any other visits planned at this time.

Phillips, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, is the No. 133 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also ranks as the country’s No. 12 linebacker and the No. 9 recruit in Alabama.

On3 Scouting Summary

Long, big-framed linebacker with the versatility to create disruption as a pass rusher and be a physical presence as a run defender. Measured in at 6-foot-1.5, 235 pounds prior to his senior season. Has outstanding length, registering a 6-foot-10 wing-span – among the best we’ve seen from 2024 linebacker prospects. 

Primarily played as a standup pass rusher as a junior, but looks to be primed for more of an off-ball inside linebacker role as a senior. Uses his quickness and length to create disruption off the edge. Heavy-handed and powerful. Plays with leverage and gets off of blocks. Shows dogged effort and pursuit speed in tracking down plays from the back side. 

As an off-ball linebacker, projects as a thumper against the run. A talented, big athlete who also sees time as a pass catcher on Friday nights. Finished his junior season with 75 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and 9 sacks. 

Also plays basketball, where he’s shown some above-the-rim bounce. Will need to settle in to playing in space. His pure speed looks to be more notable as a pass rusher than an off-ball linebacker, relative to his peers at each spot. Will need to continue improving in coverage and adding consistency as a tackler. I’m 

[alabastertiger 617]

Awesome.   It is nice to go head to head with ugaly and win again.   This staff is awesome and you can tell that give a high priority to recruiting!

[CR 2,447]

Huge get both in quality and perception. This is the kind of guy weve been unable to land in recent years. Great job.

[TitanTiger 20,542]

It's been a minute since Auburn won a head to head battle with UGA over a highly rated kid they wanted.  And don't let a single one of them lie to you about it either - Kirby wanted this kid and until the last day or so thought they had him.  It's a really big win for Auburn and CHF.

[ellitor 33,114]

This is a massive W peeps. JP was a silent to UGA fo a couple weeks. Every UGA site had stories and quotes ready to go about him committing to UGA. He was all theirs til Tuesday. Freeze, OTV, and company did a hell of a job here. They flipped the script & stuffed Kirby in a locker.

[FASTCOMPANY 394]

Kid has a 6'10 wingspan! Sideline to sideline speed + length! One we absolutely couldn't lose...YAHTZEE!!

[alabastertiger 617]

Now comes the hard part.   We have to keep him and get him to sign in December.   Coach bowl cut is not going to give up on him, but I think Freeze could sell an ice maker to an Eskimo. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by alabastertiger

[ellitor 33,114]

Another nugget I forgot. It was thought best case scenario for AU this week was to get JP to delay his commitment. If he committed this week it would surely be UGA. Well we filled the script on that too.

[ellitor 33,114]

Lastly, to the rest of the powers in college football...

[Zeek 16,660]

14 minutes ago, ellitor said:

This is a massive W peeps. JP was a silent to UGA fo a couple weeks. Every UGA site had stories and quotes ready to go about him committing to UGA. He was all theirs til Tuesday. Freeze, OTV, and company did a hell of a job here. They flipped the script & stuffed Kirby in a locker.

100% anyone who tries to sell you on a “Georgia has better options” or “don’t want him” narratives. 
 

Big big big win ladies and gentlemen!

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,817]

4 minutes ago, alabastertiger said:

Now comes the hard part.   We have to keep him and get him to sign in December.   Coach bowl cut is not going to give up on me, but I think Freeze could sell an ice maker to an Eskimo. 

Yeah I don't want to rain on anyone's parade truthfully, but just reading the guy's interview speak, he's telling you this isn't close to a done deal, which is only heightened by UGA being the other option. Hopefully they put up a good show against those guys 

[toddc 13,194]

Auburn lands huge commitment from Top247 LB Joseph Phillips

The local product found his home feeling at Auburn, which was something he just couldn't leave.

Christian Clemente41 mins

Home is where the heart is. And for Joseph Phillips, home is Tuskegee, Alabama, and now Auburn after the 4-star linebacker from Booker T. Washington announced his commitment on Thursday. He chose the Tigers over Georgia and Tennessee.

“I’d probably just say that home feeling,” Phillips told Auburn Undercover about what put Auburn over the top. “Everybody’s stressed going somewhere where you ain’t home, so you know you can stay there for three years. Because besides football, everything be fine for like a weekend, but can I stay there for three years versus three days? I feel like that’s the difference. 

"I just grew up down this way so I feel like I’ll be more focused going to a school like Auburn versus going to a school out of state or a school a few hours away. I’m going to be new to that environment, but this environment I can really go do my part.”

It wasn’t an easy win for Auburn linebackers coach Josh Aldridge and the rest of Auburn’s staff, though. After Auburn was Phillips’ first offer and led for a majority of the way, the back-to-back champions made a huge surge for him and even took some of the momentum. 

But Auburn got him on campus exactly a week ago and reminded him exactly of why he fell in love with Auburn in the first place.

“I’d probably say it’s just a different experience," Phillips said. "Georgia, yes I’m their guy, but they’ve got 10 other guys, too — either on the roster or guys that are going to come in. Auburn said I’m their guy and they’ve got maybe two on their roster right now. I’m that guy coming in. It’s going to be playing time, good coaching and I’m going to have the opportunity to showcase my talents. It’s just going to be up to me to do something with it.” 

Getting his first-ever offer from Cadillac Williams and the interim staff last fall, Phillips has blown up from an unranked recruit to the No. 126 player, No. 10 linebacker and No. 8 player from the state of Alabama now in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

It became a blue-blood battle that Hugh Freeze and Auburn were determined to win.

“From the start, they was always strong," Phillips said about Auburn. "I feel like in the past week though since everything went on with the Georgia and Tennessee, they really buckled down and came to the conclusion that this is who we want and we’re going to do our best to get you there."

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Phillips was initially being recruited as a jack linebacker and someone that rush off the edge. But teams — including Auburn — have now shifted to recruiting him as a true linebacker, though playing as an outside linebacker isn’t necessarily out of the question.

As a junior — in his first year of varsity football — Phillips racked up 75 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, nine sacks, four fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He also caught 29 passes for 336 yards and six touchdowns.

The opportunity to continue to be closer to Booker T. and his family ended up being the big difference-maker.

“I’d probably say the main thing was, if I went out-of-state it was going to hurt my pockets," Phillips said. "Because like, you look at it, you gotta pay for hotel rooms, now you’ve got to take your whole family out. And then it’s like I would want my whole family to experience the games. I don’t want my grandma to drive three, four hours to come watch me play.”

His message to the fans as Auburn now has its third commitment of the week?

“Embrace it," Phillips said. "I know everyone’s going to be crazy over it and all that, but this is not like the stop. Just because you got a big-time recruit that doesn’t mean oh we safe. We’ve still got to put the work in. It’s just one step to the bigger goal. This is just the beginning.”

[toddc 13,194]

2 minutes ago, toddc said:

His message to the fans as Auburn now has its third commitment of the week?

“Embrace it," Phillips said. "I know everyone’s going to be crazy over it and all that, but this is not like the stop. Just because you got a big-time recruit that doesn’t mean oh we safe. We’ve still got to put the work in. It’s just one step to the bigger goal. This is just the beginning.”

Love this quote and it sounds like he wants to be a part of Auburn’s resurrection as a program to me.

[PoetTiger 1,901]

Kid is legit…got that Dog mentality in him…

Edited June 15, 2023 by PoetTiger

[TitanTiger 20,542]

9 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah I don't want to rain on anyone's parade truthfully, but just reading the guy's interview speak, he's telling you this isn't close to a done deal, which is only heightened by UGA being the other option. Hopefully they put up a good show against those guys 

I'm not seeing this shaky "interview speak" you're talking about, but yeah - like any other Rivals 250 level recruit that Bama or UGA want, you have to keep working it until there's ink on paper on signing day.

[W.E.D 11,070]

So LB or EDGE?  Or LB that can blitz some?

 

Seems to be some differing opinions where he projects 

[TitanTiger 20,542]

Just now, W.E.D said:

So LB or EDGE?  Or LB that can blitz some?

 

Seems to be some differing opinions where he projects 

Could be either.  Up to this point he's been mostly a stand up pass rusher but he's supposedly moving to ILB this fall.  Probably depends on how much more he grows and how that affects his speed/quickness.  He's already 6-3, 230 lbs.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

It’s pretty incredible that in this class we already have beaten Clemson for a quarterback they really wanted and beaten Georgia for a defensive player that they really wanted. 
I mean, I know it happens but it’s been a while. 

[ellitor 33,114]

4-star LB Joseph Phillips commits to Auburn Tigers: 'It's where I know I want to be'

Article written by:Chad Simmons

4-star LB Joseph Phillips has committed to the Auburn Tigers.

Tuskegee (Ala.) Booker T. Washington four-star linebacker Joseph Phillips has gone back and forth over the past few months about which team was at the top of his recruitment.

In-state Auburn came on strong after the hiring of Hugh Freeze, but schools like Georgia and Tennessee never went away. But the Tigers’ relentlessness and the opportunity to build his own legacy at a program close to home was too much to pass up, and on Thursday he publicly announced for Auburn.

“At first it was Auburn, then the past two months it has really been Georgia. I was on Georgia bad. But the last two weeks, getting back to Auburn — it’s a different feeling when I walk in there,” he told On3. “It’s where I know I want to be, and I know I can live in Auburn.”

Phillips was on campus a couple different times in the past two weeks, and that’s when the tide really started to shift Auburn’s way.

“I knew in the beginning of last week that I wanted to go to Auburn, but I went the other day that just set it over the top,” he added. “My dad didn’t really care too much for Auburn at first, but he told me that he feels like this is where I need to be, and I went on and jumped on it. … When he told me he felt like I should go here, that just set it over the top.”

Family environment was a key factor for Joseph Phillips

Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M were the other schools in his top five, but Phillips felt something different at Auburn. The chance to play close to home and the environment he felt since Freeze has taken over made the Tigers stand out above everyone else.

“Everybody there is really cool and it’s close to home. And when I walk in the building, I feel like I’m wanted. It’s just a different feeling versus when I go to other schools. I know I can make my own name for myself, whereas some of these other schools have already done it. I don’t mind walking in and building my own thing; I don’t want to be just an average college football player that went to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee or those type of schools. At Auburn, I can build my own legacy.”

He believes Freeze and his staff have injected new life into the program and that the 2024 class has a chance to begin the path to bringing another national championship home.

“When Coach Freeze got there it really just shot through the roof,” he said. We have an opportunity. And it’s just going to take this 2024 class to get some good recruits on defense and offense to really solidify it. I don’t expect it to be some quick turnaround. But I think in the next few years, we’re going to be competing for a national championship.”

The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder is the No. 132 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the country’s No. 11 linebacker and the No. 8 recruit in Alabama.

[ellitor 33,114]

12 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

He's already 6-3, 230 lbs.

On3 has him at 6'1.5, 235. 247 at 6'2, 240.

[TitanTiger 20,542]

6 minutes ago, ellitor said:

On3 has him at 6'1.5, 235. 247 at 6'2, 240.

Rivals is the one that has him 6-3, 230.  Bottom line is, he's a big boy.

[Zeek 16,660]