Four-star running back prospect Alaric Williams was one of the crown jewels in Auburn's 2017 recruiting class. The 6'1, 210-pound youngster finished the process as the No. 10 "athlete" prospect in the country according to the 247Sports composite and expectations were quite high for Williams as he was set to enter his freshman season.
However, that is now on hold, as Williams announced via Twitter that he did not academically qualify and will instead be headed to Garden City Community College to begin his college career.
The news was first reported by AL.com and this is a brutal turn of events for Guz Malzahn and his staff. While the Tigers signed a top-10 recruiting class for 2017, the group is slightly short on players in the mold of Williams as a dynamic offensive threat and this will be a tough replacement for the program to seek at this late hour.
With that said, Williams' message during his Twitter announcement was a positive one and it appears as if he realizes the missteps he has made to this point. It will be interesting to see how he fares academically at the junior college level but, for now, Auburn will be one player short when it comes to the incoming class of football recruits.
