((ajc.com))Uh oh.
And we'll start this story by telling Brother Jon's better half to chill, nobody is accusing anyone of anything....yet.
Auburn recruit Reuben Foster was apparently paid a visit on Monday by some investigators from the NCAA.
The reason: They want to make sure no monkey business happened after Foster flipped on his commitment to Alabama after agreeing to go to Tuscaloosa a year ago.
In mid April, Foster, a 5-star (whatever that means) linebacker enrolled at Auburn High School in Alabama after attending Troup County H.S his first three years. In July, he announced he would play college football for the Tigers. And yeah, as you can imagine, the 'Bama faithful aren't real happy about this.
Read the whole story from AJC.com RIGHT HERE
The whole switch here may be perfectly innocent, it all happened around the time Foster's cousin, LaDarius Phillips was shot and killed at a party on the Auburn campus. Also, Foster has a child, and by staying in or near Opelika, he'll be closer to his kid.
But...we will also add, this smells fishy. Out of all the places he could have transferred to, he picked Auburn H.S? And then he changes his commitment to Auburn U? Yeah, we get why the Alabama folks are not happy. On the surface it looks like he was ushered to the local H.S so he could go to the local school.
We might also add this isn't Auburn's only recruiting issue this year. The NCAA is also looking into the transcript of Memphis area recruit Jovon Robinson.
You can read his story RIGHT HERE
Sure, the Tigers reputation does not help them in either of these situations and honestly, we would not be shocked if something less than legit is going on. But nobody has proven it or made the accusation...yet.
The issue to us is more the whole High School commitment issue. It's patently absurd to ask a 16-year old kid to "Commit" to a college and stick to it for a couple of years. There is NO reason for anyone less than a rising Senior in High School to be recruited or to make that kind of decision. And it doesn't stop rival coaches from recruiting the kid. In fact it makes it worse. Add in a conspiracy driven alumni base who are convinced the amount of stars in front of a kid's name will grant their school greater glory grows by the season, and you have a recipe for disaster.
We'll spare you the rest of our soapbox about the issue and just let you know that we'll keep an eye out on Auburn/NCAA story and see if anything further develops.
**Update**--The AJC says they spoke to Foster's mom Monday morning, who confirmed the report. They contacted her later in the day, and she would not elaborate on what actually happened.
PM UPDATE: Jay G. Tate over at Auburnsports.com is saying the meeting was only with the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) and NOT the NCAA as previously indicated by the AJC and other news outlets:
From JayG.
Reuben Foster and his mother on Monday met with officials from the Alabama High School Athletic Association as part of a routine evaluation of the linebacker's transfer to Auburn High earlier this year.
The AHSAA is conducting similar interviews with several players who changed schools in recent months, including defensive tackle Darius Page of Foley High, who is committed to Alabama.
Foster, who committed to Auburn in July, has not spoken with anyone from the NCAA, three sources confirmed to AuburnSports.com on Monday night. Those same sources said the NCAA isn't involved.
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