Prince Sammons to Auburn: Tigers Land 4-Star DE Prospect

The Auburn Tigers football team just got a little more regal, as defensive end Prince Sammons has committed to the school.  

Sammons is a 6'8" and 280-pound strong-side defensive end from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy in Cincinnati. He's considered a 4-star prospect by 247Sports' composite rankings as well as the No. 210 player in the country, the No. 11 strong-side defensive end in the country and the No. 10 player from the state of Ohio. 

He was named the Division V state co-defensive player of the year, per Mike Dyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, after accumulating 69 tackles and five sacks as a junior. 

Sammons' story is a fascinating one. He grew up in Nigeria and dreamed of being a basketball player, per Gerry Hamilton of ESPN.com, who noted that in 2011, a program in Maryland expressed interest. But he had to delay his trip after the death of his mother, and the school couldn't hold his spot. 

So Sammons moved in with the scout in Wisconsin who had first connected him with the Maryland program, only to find out after he traveled abroad that his father had died as well, leaving his nine siblings in Nigeria without a parent. Eventually, the freshman basketball coach at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Brandon Sammons, and his wife legally adopted Sammons and gave him a home. 

Not surprisingly, the football coaches at the school took one look at him and decided to recruit him to their sport. Despite knowing little about football, Sammons eventually found a home at defensive end, and the rest is history. 

Still, he was unaffected by the famous coaches recruiting him, as Brandon Sammons told Hamilton: 

"

He's about as naive as it comes for a kid that everyone calls a high-profile recruit; he has no clue. We had a chance to go down South and meet Coach Saban, [Gus] Malzahn and [Mark] Richt, and Prince couldn't have picked any of the three out of a lineup. You say to him, hey, Coach Saban wants to talk to you and he's like, "I have no clue who Coach Saban is." That's part of what I like about it, though; he doesn't have any preconceived notions about it.

"

He has great size for the position, and his versatility is impressive, as he also played right tackle this past season. Sammons may not have been familiar with Malzahn before his recruiting process began, but you can bet Malzahn and the Tigers are glad he ultimately chose them.