Article by David Morrison
AUBURN - At first, Darrion Hutcherson was flattered.
The Auburn tight end commit was just starting to burst onto the recruiting scene at this time last year, thanks to a promising junior campaign at Dadeville, impressive showings at camps and his highlight reel passing from hand to hand.
Coaches started calling “24, 7.” It was fun. Until it wasn’t.
“It’s just busy,” Hutcherson said. “It gets old after a while. You’re like, ‘Ah, forget this.’
“That’s why I just went on and committed. I knew where I was going anyway. I wasn’t trying to blow up in the media or anything.”
Auburn offered the 6-foot-7, 247-pound Hutcherson on April 12, and he committed to the Tigers nine days later.
His mind was made up, and it wasn’t changing, no matter how many schools kept calling him after his commitment.
And there were plenty.
Unlike a number of prospects that waffle during the recruiting process, Hutcherson has stayed solid for more than nine months, and plans to sign with Auburn on Wednesday.
“Either they’re just putting on a show, or they don’t really know (when they commit),” Hutcherson said of prospects who change commitments. “Some, I think, are just putting on a show.”
As Hutcherson’s recruitment is drawing to a close, teammate Rod Crayton’s process is just beginning.
Hutcherson is committed to being a resource for Crayton as he navigates the same tricky process Hutcherson is about to complete.
“Keep your nose clean, take your time, and you’ve got to go in and bond with all the coaches,” Hutcherson said. “You need to take your time and see where you fit in best, on and off the field.”
Crayton, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound junior nose guard, has been one of the most productive defensive linemen in the area over the past two years, earning back-to-back first-team, All-State nods after recording 288 tackles and 22.5 sacks over the last two seasons.
He’s also a bit of an athletic freak, with a 6-7 wingspan and the ability to bench press 490 pounds.
College coaches are starting to take notice.
Crayton, who received his first verbal offer from Florida Atlantic when he was a sophomore, went to his first Junior Day at Auburn two weekends ago and has offers from “about 12 schools,” including LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Michigan and Penn State.
Ed Orgeron from USC was on the horn inquiring about him earlier this week. Texas, Florida and Florida State have also had their interest piqued.
It’s still in the “fun” stage for Crayton, even though he’s not yet used to hearing people tell him how good he is quite this much.
“I don’t think too much about it. I don’t get a real big head about that,” Crayton said. “I don’t think I’m any better than the next man. There’s still more room for me to improve.”
Hutcherson feels it’s part of his role to help Crayton stay humble as coaches, fans and others pump up his self-worth over the next 12 months.
The tight end knows better than most that while his status as a power-conference recruit makes him special, there are probably about a thousand more like him around the country..
“He said people were telling him he was big-headed, and folks will start saying I’m big-headed, but I’m not big-headed at all,” Crayton said. “He’s telling me to keep my head up and finish out the recruiting process, don’t let anybody pressure me to go to any type of school.
“Just go where I feel at home.”
Even if that home happens to not be Auburn.
Hutcherson said he’s not pressuring Crayton to continue being his teammate at the college level.
“I’m letting him breathe a little bit,” Hutcherson said with a smile.
The secondary goal for Hutcherson and Crayton — aside from assuring successful college careers for themselves — is to do what they can to raise the profile of Dadeville on a national recruiting level.
Crayton said he hopes college coaches will start noticing other Tigers players — like junior wide receiver/safety Terry Toler — when they’re scouting him.
It’s been 16 years since Dadeville last had a Divison-I football signee.
Hutcherson and Crayton don’t want to see their school go that long without one again.
“From all the work and dedication people have been putting in, it’s good to see people succeeding and going to the next level,” Crayton said. “It’s so good coming from such a small community to go somewhere big and play D-I ball.”
Armstead chooses Oregon: Arik Armstea d , one of the top lineman prospects in the Class of 2012, brought an end to an intensive, two-week decision process by donning an Oregon hat Sunday.
The 6-foot-8, 280-pounder from Elk Grove, Calif., chose the Ducks over Auburn, California — where it looked like he was headed a couple weeks ago — USC — where he originally committed in the summer of 2010 — Notre Dame, Washington and UCLA, among offers from many other schools.
Armstead, who the Tigers recruited as a defensive lineman, is a five-star offensive tackle on Scout.com, a five-star athlete on 247Sports.com and a four-star defensive end on Rivals.com.
He’s the top-ranked tackle nationally on Scout, the top-ranked athlete on 247Sports and the No. 6 defensive end on Rivals, and is ranked No. 2 out of all 2012 high school prospects on Scout and No. 4 on 247Sports.
Armstead and his brother, Armond, visited Auburn from Jan. 13-15 and Arik originally wanted to make a decision the following week so he could enroll early at the college of his choice.
A day after he left Auburn, a wrench got thrown into the proceedings when Cal assistant coach Tosh Lupo i — Armstead’s lead recruiter at for the Bears, who were the prohibitive favorite to land him — left to become the defensive run game coordinator at Washington.
That touched off a whirlwind of coaches — including the Tigers’ Gene Chizi k — paying visits to the Armstead household and pitching their programs.
Armstead decided to delay his decision until Signing Day on Feb. 1 and enroll later this year, but he moved up his choice to Sunday earlier this week.
He first committed to USC — where his brother played defensive line — two summers ago, but Armond sat out last season with an undisclosed medical condition and sought a transfer.
Armond, who has one year of eligibility left, and Arik wanted to end up at the same school, and the elder Armstead would have needed a special waiver to play his final year at an SEC school.
Auburn’s Class of 2012 stands at 15 commits with Signing Day coming up Wednesday, but it is still in the running for a handful of elite recruits who have not announced their decisions yet.
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