All through the night Saturday, a third-row SUV at max capacity was burning rubber on a drive from San Antonio to Little Rock, Ark.

Inside was Auburn quarterback signee Walker White, his parents, two of his brothers, his younger sister, one other family friend and all their luggage, including Walker’s football helmet from the All-American Bowl he played in the day prior.

At one point, Walker’s mother, Amy White, posted a video to her social media showing her backseat passengers playing a game of Spades on a suitcase suspended between the armrests of the middle row seats.

“Making lemonade out of lemons,” she wrote.

Initially, Walker and his entourage were set to fly home. But instead, a late-night flight cancelation sent them scrambling and eventually settling on driving through the night – an eight-hour trek that would put them back in Little Rock at around 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

Once home, they’d spend the day packing a pair of cars full of Walker’s things before piling back into the cars early Monday morning, when they’d make the eight-hour drive to Auburn, where they’d move Walker into his freshman dorm.

Thanks to Saturday night’s surprise from the airline, the White family might not be as rested as they’d like when they get to the Plains on Monday, but for them and the Auburn football program, it marks the end of Walker’s long journey to Auburn.

Unfamiliar territory and a long January away from home

For touted high school quarterbacks, navigating the recruiting process comes with a bit more pressure.

When it came time for the four-star quarterback to seriously begin diving into his recruitment, he and his family learned that pressure firsthand.

Walker’s parents, David and Amy White, weren’t new to helping their children transition from high school sports to college sports. Their two oldest sons played sports at Arkansas, just three hours away from their Little Rock home.

But with Walker, it was a bit different.

The Whites’ oldest sons weren’t touted prospects. Instead, John David White walked on with Arkansas’ football team as a receiver, while Zac White walked on with Arkansas’ baseball team as a fielder.

With Walker, it was the family’s first go ‘round with a coveted prospect, let alone a coveted quarterback.

“We just didn’t have anyone really leading us,” Amy White said of navigating Walker’s recruitment. “We were pretty much told as a quarterback, he needed to commit earlier rather than later.”

The reason behind such a thought process is that surrounding offensive pieces will be more likely to commit to a team already knowing who their quarterback might be.

That said, Walker set his own timeline, hoping to announce his commitment by February of 2023 – eight months before the early signing period.

And so the White family hit the ground running, driving and flying as Walker paid visits to interested programs.

“I remember I was only home like 11 days last January because we were gone so much,” Amy White said in an interview with AL.com.

Walker White had scheduled visits with Arkansas, Baylor and Clemson – all between Jan. 21 and Jan. 28.

Meanwhile, head coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers, who had extended an offer to Walker White on Dec. 20, were hoping the White family could find a bit of room in their busy month of January to pencil in a visit to the Plains.

The Whites made the time on Jan. 16, 2023 – an open Monday in which Auburn had no other visits scheduled.

“They just wanted to meet Walker and I think that we wanted them to meet Walker because I think Walker was wanting to, that February, commit and we had to get all in,” Amy White said. “It was just a perfect, perfect day. And he had, you a one-on-one talk with coach (Freeze) and I think that was really good. And Walker, I think, just felt an immediate connection there.”

A day at Clemson and an evening in a hotel lobby

Walker White participated in Clemson’s Junior Day on Jan. 28, 2023 – a visit he and his family figured would probably be his last before making his decision in early February.

Unlike at Auburn, the Whites were surrounded by the families of other Clemson prospects – something Amy White, a self-proclaimed people person, and her husband David enjoyed.

Meanwhile, head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers’ recruiting staff “put on the dog” for Walker.

“We were like, if he does not choose Clemson and chooses something else over this, we know that he’s serious,” Amy White said. “Because Clemson was awesome.”

When the White family arrived back at their hotel room that evening, they gathered to get Walker’s thoughts.

“He just didn’t even hesitate,” Amy White recalls. “He just said, ‘Well, are y’all gonna be upset if I say Auburn?’”

Of course, they weren’t going to be upset. It was just the timing of it – having just finished up a great visit at Clemson that day – that caught David and Amy White off guard.

Shortly after the conversation, Walker made his way down to the hotel lobby to be alone with his thoughts, a pen and his journal. If he was going to publicly make his decision in the coming days, he was going to be sure of it.

At about 1:00 in the morning, while still journaling in the hotel lobby, Walker’s older brother Zac gave him a call to help him sort out his thoughts.

The conclusion of the conversation? If God was really pushing Walker toward Auburn, he should listen.

“He was like, ‘It’s. Auburn.’ And he never looked back,” Amy White said. “We committed on February, like 2nd or 3rd of last year and he’s never looked back.”

Walker White: Recruit turned recruiter

Walker White had a mentor throughout his commitment.

Ironically, that mentor was former Auburn and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.

Nix, a legacy quarterback when he was at Auburn, helped Walker when he was grappling with the thought of not playing football at Arkansas. After all, his dad was a golfer for the Hogs, while his two older brothers played their respective sports in Fayetteville.

Having experienced a similar situation in transferring away from Auburn, where his father played quarterback for the Tigers, Nix told Walker he should listen to what his heart was telling him.

“If you want to go somewhere else, go somewhere else,” said Amy White, echoing what Nix told her son. “And I think that kind of pushed Walker a bit.”

And Nix’s advice didn’t stop there.

In an interview with The Athletic, Walker White said Nix was quick to remind him that “you’re only as good as the guys around you.”

So Walker quickly set out to help Auburn’s recruiting efforts.

On Nov. 25, during his visit to Auburn as the Tigers hosted the Alabama Crimson Tide, Walker sported a navy hoodie with the last names of eight Auburn prospects plastered down the back of it. It was Walkers’ wish list.

“He’s just been so consistent in trying to continue to recruit his team. That’s what you need. You need a couple of those,” said Freeze during his National Signing Day press conference on Dec. 20. “But Walker took the ownership and the leadership of, ‘Hey, let’s put together a top-10 class. That’s what we’ve said we’ve wanted.’ He certainly jumped in and tried every way in the world to help us do that.”

Mission accomplished.

With December’s early signing period come and gone, the Tigers sit with the seventh-best 2024 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

And with another signing period approaching in February, it’s unlikely the Tigers are quite finished.

The most notable target left on Auburn’s board is 5-star wide receiver and Alabama commit Ryan Williams, who stands as the missing piece in what folks call the “Freeze 5″ — referring to Auburn’s stellar class of wide receivers.

So far, the Tigers have four on board. And considering Walker’s efforts to this point, it’s a safe bet he’s working tirelessly on the final piece.

Arriving to The Plains ready to work

Walker White will move into his Auburn dorm room Monday – 339 days after making his commitment to the Tigers.

In those 339 days, Walker has visited Auburn six times on unofficial visits and was on site for the Tigers’ games against Georgia and Alabama.

And apart from going to Arkansas on Nov. 11 to watch Auburn pick apart the Razorbacks, Walker hasn’t visited or entertained any other program since his commitment 11 months ago – a rarity in today’s college football landscape.

“He did not want to be somebody that commits and then de-commits and then commits and then de-commits,” Amy White said. “The thought of him de-committing from Auburn would have never crossed his mind because he didn’t want to make that be part of his character.”

When Walker arrives at Auburn, he’ll be just two days removed from an appearance in the All-American Bowl, where he played as one of three quarterbacks for Team West.

In Walker’s first pass of the game, he connected with Georgia running back signee Nate Frazier for a 51-yard touchdown, giving those watching a glimpse at why Freeze and the Tigers quickly pursued Walker.

Truth be told, it was recently fired offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery who put Freeze on Walker as Montgomery was one of the first coaches to offer Walker while he was the head coach at Tulsa.

“I think Walker has a really, really bright future,” Montgomery said in a press conference ahead of the Music City Bowl. “He’s a guy that can do both. He can run with it. He can throw with it. But he’s got an electric-type arm. You see the ball just kind of really take off out of his hands. He can flick it and make every throw you want him to make.”

In an interview with 247 Sports’ Christian Clemente, Walker admitted to being upset by the news of Montgomery’s firing, but said he trusted Freeze and is excited about his vision for the Auburn offense moving forward.

And there’s no question Freeze is excited about having Walker on board, too.

“Walker White, I think, is going to be a star. I think he’s got all the attributes of what a quarterback should (look) like,” Freeze said. “I think he’s a true Auburn man.”