What's really going on with LaDarius Owens

LaDarius Owens' father might have played football at Auburn back in the eighties, but if it's up to UT's staff the younger Owens will be wearing orange and white on Saturdays.

Owens is a beast in the secondary at 6'2-225 who can run a 4.49 / 40 yard dash. No wonder he is rated the #98 player and the #8 outside linebacker in the entire nation. And considering UT's need for physical linebackers and coach Lance Thompson's ties to Alabama, it's no wonder UT has made Owens a top priority in the 2010 class.

If Owens had committed last Friday as planned, there is no doubt in my mind that he would've chosen Auburn since that was who was forcing his hand to commit. Likewise, there is no doubt in my mind that the VOLS were a big reason why Owens delayed his announcement. All I can say is that Owens is at the top of Monte and Thompson's wish list and Owens likes the idea of playing for the person who developed Derrick Brooks into a great outside linebacker.

Auburn fans are crazy if they think that Auburn's coaches are behind this delayed announcement. They should have gotten Owens to commit a long time ago considering the depth Alabama has at linebacker. It's safe to say Owens was the "big recruiting news" that Auburn had promised fans the last two weekends. Now coaches will be focused on Fall camp and the upcoming season which runs the risk of someone jumping Auburn on Owens' short list.

At the end of the day, Bama has too many linebackers and it comes down between Auburn and Tennessee. Considering Thompson's success recruiting Alabama while with the Tide, I like the VOLS chances, a lot. Owens may wind up at Auburn, but is by no means a lock to do so.

Auburn Expecting Double Digit Committments During Stars & Stripes Weekend

Supposedly, Auburn Assistant Coach Trooper Taylor told Sports Call Radio that Auburn fans should save their firework money on the 4th, because there are going to be plenty of fireworks for fans in July.

The word on the street is that Auburn has planned an event like no other for the July 18th weekend, in which no less than 12 highly-touted recruits will sign with the Tigers. It's being called "Stars and Stripes Weekend" (Recruiting Stars and Tiger Stripes) and will take place at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Many media outlets have picked up on the story and it appears the information may be more than just a rumor. At least Auburn is giving the national media a true example of a staged publicity stunt, something that Lane Kiffin was unfairly accused of when Evan Berry said he was committed to UT.

Tony Franklin airs some dirty laundry

...Franklin, who said he almost broke off his first interview with Tuberville just 10 minutes in, had deep doubts that his style of his coaching, along with his personality, would work on The Plains.

He was right on both counts.

But what he never expected was to find an athletic department and football program so riddled with turmoil.

"It was the most unusual place I've ever been," Franklin said of the Auburn program. "NO onle liked annybody else. There was this deep distrust of everybody. The coaches didn't trust the administration, the administration didn't rust each other or the ocaches. It was very strange and very unnerving. You would walk down the halls and there would be tension, you could just feel it."

Josh Moon: Montgomery Advisor (Full Story)

VOLS don't make cut with Lattimore

After leaving UT camp this afternoon, the #2 RB in the nation narrowed his list to 8 teams with the VOLS not making the cut.

Does this really surpris anyone considering UT signed three bad mofos in Bryce Brown, David Oku, and Toney Williams in 2009? We willl likely get a good 4 star, but don't expect a top 2 back signing with the VOLS in 2010.

Glad he made the trip with his two teammates though, who are both top 50 players in the nation and bookends on the Byrnes defensive line. Hopefully he helped make them feel at home.

Auburn, FSU, and SCAR were thought to be his leaders, but Lattimore said today that may not be the case.

He told The Big Spur "Auburn is no longer my leader. After the visit I thought about it. I have no leader right now, but I have narrowed it down to eight schools. My final eight schools are Auburn, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida State, Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and Maryland."

If you ask me, Auburn will wind up with the #1 RB Lache Seastrunk and could get Lattimore as well. A lot of chatter is going around that Seastrunk is a lock to Auburn after "Big Cat Weekend" and his comments since make it very believable. It's even been said that Seastrunk showed what side of the fence he was on by participating in some Saban bashing that got nothing but laughs.

2010 is full of top RBs and like always most will wind up in the SEC. It will be ridicules if Lattimore and Seastrunk both sign with SEC schools, considering Bryce Brown, Trent Richardson, David Oku, Jarvis Giles all signed with conference schools in 2009.

Big Cat Weekend gets Auburn in minor trouble

AUBURN -- Auburn is examining whether any NCAA rules were broken during Saturday's "Big Cat" recruiting weekend.

An Auburn spokesperson told the Press-Register Sunday that the university had not determined if any NCAA secondary violations occurred, but would review the event this week.

Auburn hosted roughly two-dozen top prospects on unofficial visits, providing an activity-packed weekend that culminated in the rolling of Toomer's Corner late Saturday in front of more than 100 cheering fans.

At least two NCAA bylaws may have been breached during the weekend.

Although NCAA rules (Bylaw 13.10.6) bar the introduction of visiting student-athletes during any function, videos of the event posted on two Web sites show the crowd cheering as the players are introduced by name, position and hometown. The man yelling the introductions does not appear on the videos, but assistant head coach Trooper Taylor is shown leading the crowd in cheers immediately after the introductions.

Auburn hosted several elite prospects during the weekend, including running backs Lache Seastrunk (Temple, Texas) and Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, S.C.), receiver Trovon Reed (Thibodaux, La.) and linebackers Khairi Fortt (Stamford, Conn.) and LaDarius Owens (Bessemer). Seastrunk and Lattimore are ranked as the first and second best running backs in the country, respectively, by Rivals.com. [Full story]