Anquon Fegans, who often goes by his nickname “Newboy,” pulled a white Auburn hat out from underneath the table, only to toss it to the side while shaking his head.

The four-star Thompson safety had briefly stunned the crowd that came to watch him announce his college commitment in Birmingham on Monday night, only for him reach back under the table and emerge with a second Auburn hat — this one making its way onto his head.

The hat trick wasn’t a slight at the Tigers — Fegans, who ranks as the No. 9 safety in the country and the No. 9 prospect in the state of Alabama, just wanted to have a bit of light-hearted fun with his announcement.

“I knew it was Auburn like maybe a month ago,” Fegans told reporters following his commitment ceremony.

Despite Fegans having been leaning towards Hugh Freeze and the Tigers for some time, his three other finalists —Clemson, Georgia and LSU — were all represented by balloons at Monday’s celebration.

Before making his announcement, Fegans told On3 Sports in a live stream that he could ramble about what he liked about each of his finalists.

But when it came to Auburn, it was all pretty simple.

“It was the place,” Fegans told reporters. “Auburn is special. What Coach Freeze is going to bring to The Plains is going to be very, very special and it’s my job to take it and make it as special as it can be.”

And as of late, Freeze and Auburn’s coaching staff has left zero doubt that they’re working towards building something impressive after their recent tear on the recruiting trail.

With his commitment on Monday night, Fegans became the sixth player to commit to the Tigers in just three days as his pledge came on the heels of Auburn’s wildly successful Big Cat Weekend recruiting event.

Auburn secured a trio of 2026 commitments early Saturday, flipped a pair of 2025 recruits from Alabama on Saturday night and Monday afternoon and then added Fegans on Monday night.

With Fegans’ commitment, Auburn’s 2025 recruiting class has ascended to the No. 5 spot in 247Sports’ team rankings.

Prior to this past weekend, Auburn’s 2025 class was ranked outside the top 10.

And the Tigers might not be done just yet.

On Saturday, Fegans’ teammate at Thompson, five-star edge rusher Jared Smith, is set to make his decision between Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina and USC.

When asked if he was “working on” getting anyone else to commit to Auburn, Fegans didn’t think twice.

“Jared Smith, I’m coming,” Fegans said. “You my teammate at home and I want you to be my teammate in college.”

Fortunately for Fegans, whether Smith commits to the Tigers or not, he’s already got a former high school teammate waiting for him on The Plains in fellow safety Kaleb Harris, who is in his freshman season.

Fegans says Harris was consistently in his ear about committing to the Tigers.

“Kaleb was probably a bigger recruiter than the coaches,” Fegans joked Monday.

And to take it all a step further, in committing to Auburn, Fegans is set to suit up alongside his older brother, Antwon Fegans Jr., who signed with the Tigers in May after transferring from Northwestern State.

Antquon and Antwon Fegans’ mother, Tanquella Fegans, said it was “a dream” to have both her sons playing for the same college football program.

“It’s very special because not many kids get that opportunity to say they played with their brother in college,” Anquon Fegans said Monday. “Little League and high school? Yeah. But you go to college, it’s different. So it was very special.”