The Timeline: How Auburn landed Jashawn Sheffield
Tennessee has continued to pursue Jashawn Sheffield, Florida State was involved and South Carolina was at one time viewed as the favorite, but the Rivas 250 athlete out of St. Simons Island (Ga.) Frederica Academy has committed to the Auburn Tigers.
The 6-foot-2, 180 pounder is now headed to play in the SEC, so lets take a look at how this race played out.
THE BEGINNING
"The offer from Auburn came during my freshman year. Tennessee was first, then Georgia and Auburn was right there after that. It came after my freshman football season.
"I really too notice of Auburn football for the first time when Chris Davis returned that field goal attempt by Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl. That is really when i started to know and learn more about Auburn. That one play kind of put them on my radar.
"In recruiting, things got started early with Auburn, but things started off kind of slow. It took me a while to get there for a visit and I really was not talking to them much at the beginning.
"I know teachers at my school that went to Auburn, I know students from around where I live that went to Auburn, so I kept hearing about Auburn. I was being told about the atmosphere, the people there and things like that, so Auburn was always in my mind even though I was not really talking to the coaches or taking visits there.
"Coach Kodi Burns came through the school my sophomore year and that is really when things got started between us. I did not visit them as early as I did other schools, so I was not talking about Auburn as much as other schools, but in the back of my mind, they were there."
THE TURN
"We had been staying in touch, but when I finally visited Auburn for the very first time early this spring, that is when things really changed for me.
"I was there in March. During the season, Auburn really picked things up with me and they really started coming at me hard. They were talking to me a lot, trying to get me to visit and when I finally did, I loved it.
"I came out of the first visit with Auburn as my top school and it has been that way since. I was there for 24 hours and just being around the players, spending more time with the coaches and just getting the feeling of things helped a lot.
"The players came up to me and that had never happened with me. They were asking me to hang out and all that. I bonded with the players immediately. The coaches were different too. I had great meetings with the coaches and it was not even all about football. The visit was different.
"The whole visit surprised me and it changed things for me. I went into that visit with Florida State and South Carolina as my top two schools, but I came out with Auburn as my leader."
THE FINALE
"My mind was made up completely after my second visit to Auburn. I was there for two days on that visit and I knew then that Auburn was going to be the school for me.
"The players made me feel like family. I knew Auburn was it for me. I was ready to make the decision.
"It is the right fit for me. It feels like family, they offer a great education, the football program is elite and the bond I have with the coaches is second to none. The coaches check up on me every day. They care about me and they just want to make sure I am doing OK.
"It is a great feeling to be committing to Auburn. I enjoyed the ride while I had it, but I am just ready to go handle business at Auburn now."
