Men's Recruiting: #8 - Auburn

From head coach Richard Quick’s illness, the impact of the Jaked suits, a NCAA championship, departure of Dorsey Tierney and arrival of Paul Yetter this year was like no other for the Auburn Tigers. Still, the beat goes on and the Tigers continue to attract top talent.

“Neither [Quick’s illness or Tierney’s departure] affected recruiting for this fall’s incoming class since the majority of the incoming class had signed prior,” explains Aaron Ciarla, “The public, as well as prospective student-athletes have all been very sympathetic and very kind in their words and messages towards Coach Quick.”

This year’s class includes a pair of top-20 signees and two more in the top-100. It’s not the type of class that will overwhelm you, but Auburn’s classes seldom do. They come in. They get better. They add a few international ringers, and next thing you know Toomer’s Corner is getting rolled.

Stuart Ferguson headlines this class. The breaststrokeris the real deal and should push Adam Klein and Michael Silva right away. Backstrokers Tony Cox and Kyle Owens won’t be challenging for a medley relay spot just yet, not with defending 100 backstroke champion Kohlton Norys and 4th place finisher Pascal Wollach ahead on the depth chart.

That’s what makes this class somewhat perplexing. It’s good – but it doesn’t –on paper - fit the Tigers’ needs. Sure Chris Kramer will lend help in the distance events, that wasn’t where the Tigers need to replace points. In fact, Auburn didn’t score any freestyle events longer than 100 yards or any events over 200. Auburn needed to invest in their next generation of sprinters to replace the likes of Matt Targett and Jakob Andkjaer.

Head Coach Brett Hawke isn’t worried however, “The incoming class compliments our needs nicely with both talent and development. I am excited to get to work with these individuals because they are the future leaders of this program, as that was something I looked for in this class; natural leadership ability.”

Someone who can step up to replace the departures of Targett and Andkjaer is Karl Krug. Another option could be a late-season addition, possibly from overseas, though it’s not something the Tigers are pressing.

“We do pay attention to the international swimming community,” explains Ciarla, “however, for this incoming class we did not press international recruiting. The majority of the time, international student-athletes make first contact with us . . . and tell us that they wish to come to the United States to swim in college.”

One thing the Tigers do have to look forward to is a full compliment of scholarships. The Tigers’ recruiting was hampered as a result of men’s Academic Progress Rate penalty. The penalty cost men’s swimming 0.99 scholarships, but Auburn imposed the penalty on itself for the 2008-09 season (thus making their NCAA title even more impressive). Now the Tigers have the ammunition to go after the kids they want.

“We are now out of the ‘penalty-zone’ and well on our way of climbing back up to the top of the APR point system.” Ciarla explained. “Many factors play into the loss of APR points and we have evaluated the areas which have hurt us the most and are committed to maintaining high APR in the future. We have full scholarship availability for our student-athletes.

That makes the coming year an important one for the new Auburn staff. Everyone knows Brett Hawke, Paul Yetter and Aaron Ciarla can coach. They’ll get this class up to speed. More importantly, though, they’ll need to turn an unlimited recruiting budget into a similarly unlimited class.

14	73.11	Ferguson, Stuart	Richmond, VA	Poseidon Swimming Inc
18	71.83	Owens, Kyle	Johnson City, TN	Barracuda Swim Club
56	66.04	Cox, Tony	Alemany, CA	Porter Valley Aquatics
95	62.05	Kramer, Christopher	Hanover, PA	York YMCA
158	57.29	Siemasko, Brandon	Indianapolis, IN	Washington Township Swim Club
183	55.63	Ruffing, Andrew	Lilburn, GA	Gwinnett Aquatics
239	52.53	Chenier, Mason	Goldsboro, NC	Goldsboro Family YMCA