Four-star quarterback Deuce Knight flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to Auburn on Wednesday. The move comes after weeks of speculation that the No. 34 overall player in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports would back off the original pledge he made last September.
With Knight’s commitment, Auburn jumped LSU for the No. 3 recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, according to 247Sports. The Tigers are on track to finish with their best recruiting class in the Hugh Freeze era after garnering the No. 10 overall class last cycle. Notre Dame falls to No. 13 in the 2025 rankings.
The Lucedale, Mississippi native ranks as the No. 5 quarterback in his recruiting class and drew interest from Ole Miss, Alabama and Colorado before making his original commitment last fall. Knight took an unofficial visit for Auburn’s Week 1 clash with Alabama A&M and visited when the Tigers faced Cal.
“He is the most polarizing prospect in this class,” 247Sports national recruiting analyst Cooper Petagna says of Knight. “It’s not just because he’s a quarterback, you talk about his physical potential — it’s unlimited. When you look at this kid and what he can be, we’re talking about a guy with a 42-inch vertical jump, state champion with a very strong track and field resume in terms of genetics with his brother playing at Indiana. He’s got it all. He checks every box.”
Knight, a 6-foot-4 lefty, is considered one of the athletic overall talents in the 2025 recruiting class and debuted at No. 2 in 247Sports’ annual ‘Freaks List.’
“If you were to drop him in the NFL scouting combine, he’d be in the top 1 percent especially of that quarterback room,” Petagna said. “The biggest thing with Knight is can he develop as a passer? With what we’ve seen this offseason, the answer is more than likely yes. He had a really strong three days at the Elite 11 finals. Every time I have seen him he has gotten better and better.”
Knight becomes the 25th commitment in Auburn’s upcoming recruiting class. The Tigers’ star-studded class includes five-star edge Jared Smith, five-star DL Malik Autry, four-star edge Jakaleb Faulk, four-star safety Eric Winters and four-star wide receiver Nathaniel Marshall.
Freeze has been panned for his mismanagement of Auburn’s quarterback room, which includes doubling down on the underwhelming Payton Thorne rather than ponying up in the transfer portal. But adding Knight to an elite recruiting class, one cycle after signing another elite QB prospect in Walker White, is proof of concept Auburn backers are looking for.
