The A-List is AL.com’s ranking of the top 15 senior prospects in the state of Alabama. We will count down one each day until No. 1 is revealed Aug. 23.

Booker T. Washington linebacker Joseph Phillips’ mind was made up earlier this summer.

“I was going to Georgia,” the 4-star prospect said this week.

That all changed quickly one morning, however.

“My dad thought Georgia might be the best opportunity for me,” Phillips said. “But then one day, he just woke up and told me I would be crazy not to go to Auburn. I always wanted to go to Auburn anyway.

“I just felt like the communication wasn’t there (last fall). I didn’t get that family feel. Georgia was giving me that. When I went to Auburn the last time, it was totally different. I like the opportunity. I’m a hometown kid. I feel like I can create my own legacy by going to Auburn.”

Phillips committed to the Tigers on June 15 starting a busy summer for Freeze and company that also has included 5-star flips from Chilton County linebacker Demarcus Riddick and Foley wide receiver Perry Thompson into this 2024 Auburn class.

“I feel like I kind of started a wave,” Phillips said.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound senior comes in at No. 8 on AL.com’s A-List of top players in the state of Alabama. As a junior, he finished with 75 tackles, 19 tackles for a loss and nine sacks. He also caught six touchdown passes on offense.

His high school coach, Lawrence O’Neal, said Phillips has NFL potential.

“He has speed, explosiveness,” O’Neal told AL.com this summer. “When he gets to the ball, he’s very violent. He’s also a smart kid. You might get him once, but you are not going to keep getting him with the same thing over and over again.”

It wasn’t too long ago ironically that Phillips thought his future would be in basketball. Until his junior season, he hadn’t played football since the eighth grade.

“I never lost the love of football,” he said. “I just wasn’t playing much, so I started playing basketball. It was my life – dunking, shooting. I loved it. I thought that was my way, but God blessed me in other ways.”

O’Neal had a conversation with Phillips, telling him there weren’t too many athletes his size playing center on the next level.

“But at his size in football, he was already a grown man,” O’Neal said.

That is what Phillips needed to here. He came back out for football prior to his junior season and assumed a leadership role on the team. He started the season on the basketball team but decided not to finish.

Football was his future now.

“It was what I needed to hear,” Phillips said of his conversation with O’Neal. “I was waiting for someone to tell me, ‘Come do this.’ I felt like he was giving me the shot I always wanted. Once I got that shot, I was all in.”

Phillips’ recruiting took off in a hurry. He is No. 6 among in-state seniors in the On3 rankings and No. 10 according to 247 sports. In addition to Auburn and Georgia, he has offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Penn State and Tennessee among many others.

He said he may visit Knoxville for a Tennessee game this fall because he promised that staff he would.

“I keep my promises,” he said. “But that would be the only place I would go. No reason to go anywhere else.”

Phillips said he almost committed to Auburn under the previous staff.

“In my head, I was already committed,” he said. “But the communication died down. I got a taste of Georgia and thought that might be the best option. Coach Caddy (Cadillac Williams) gave me the offer at first. Then they came and renewed it later.”

He also had high praise for Freeze.

“He’s the guy,” Phillips said. “I love talking to him. He’s the only coach I talk to, and it’s like talking to one of my home boys. That is the type of coach I like. He’s just like my high school coach. I can talk to them about anything.”

A-LIST NO. 8: JOSEPH PHILLIPS, BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Position: Linebacker

Height/weight: 6-3, 245

College status: Committed to Auburn

Randy Kennedy’s scouting report: No prospect in the country has a better motor than Joseph Phillips. Whether he’s setting edge against the run or rushing the passer, Phillips is a maximum effort player. He could grow into a defensive lineman or be a middle linebacker.

THE 2024 A-LIST

No. 15: Josh Flowers, QB, Baker

No. 14: Bobby Pruitt, LB, Theodore

No. 13: JaCorey Whitted, TE, McAdory

No. 12: Kevin Riley, RB, Tuscaloosa County

No. 11: J’Marion Burnette, RB, Andalusia

No. 10: William Sanders, OL, Brookwood

No. 9: Jordan Ross, EDGE, Vestavia Hills

No. 8: Joseph Phillips, LB, Booker T. Washington