Auburn football landed a massive recruit in the literal sense on Tuesday, getting a commitment from 6-foot-7, 370-pound offensive tackle Nikau Hepi.

A New Zealand native, Hepi becomes the first player from the NFL Academy Asia-Pacific campus to commit to a U.S. college. He recently attended Auburn’s prospect camp on June 1, and it took less than a month for Hepi to give the Tigers his pledge.

Hepi is a three-star recruit and ranked No. 852 in the class of 2026 by the 247Sports composite rankings. Despite being raw, Hepi’s size makes him stand out in Auburn’s 2026 class.

His addition puts Auburn back up to six commitments for 2026, but the class still ranks 88th in the country, according to 247Sports. The Tigers had three players decommit in the last two weeks and currently have just two commits rated four stars or higher by the 247Sports composite.

Hepi becomes the second offensive lineman in the class, joining three-star interior lineman Parker Pritchett who committed in April.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m