Why This Auburn Freshman Continues to Turn Heads During Fall Camp

At the beginning of December 2025, DeShawn Spencer was a Duke commit. More than eight months later, he’s one of the most promising freshmen on Auburn’s roster for head coach Alex Golesh.

The Saraland High School product continues to get high praise from plenty of different people within the program ahead of the 2026 season, one that will be a pivotal one for Golesh to put his impression on the SEC moving forward. Fortunately, he has a wide receiver who could be considered a secret weapon over the course of the season.

But, why? It’s all of the intangibles that can’t be taught, coming from a high school that won three straight region titles in Alabama while he was there.

“He’s mature beyond his years in the sense of football intelligence,” Golesh said on Thursday. “He comes from a really good program, he’s been coached really hard, all he’s done is win.”

Spencer has even caught the eye of starting quarterback Byrum Brown. While he has already developed chemistry with names like Jeremiah Koger, Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod, the freshman is a player whom the quarterback has been impressed with and has gotten to know over the process.

“He’s practiced like a real deal vet, comes to work each and every single day always looking to get better,” he said. “So, I couldn’t be more happy to have him on my team making plays, making catches.”

He’s making waves in his own position group, too.

“Like, he’s already in the playbook, every day full speed,” Singleton said on Thursday, “like, if you watch practice, you wouldn’t expect him to be a freshman.”

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound receiver was not the most highly touted recruit, though, entering the cycle. Spencer was outside the top 100 in his position group for the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. A top 30 player from Alabama, he was committed to Duke since last July before flipping during National Signing Day to the Plains.

Since stepping foot on campus, Golesh has seen him spent endless hours at the facilities, more than asked in that point of the offseason. Even when he’s taking part in the first and second team groups, the Auburn head coach said that he “stands out” regardless of the group that he’s in and playing against.

Could we see Spencer play right away? Only time will tell, but seniority could take Auburn’s receiving core early on in the season. However, based off what we’ve heard from numerous amounts of people, it’s only a matter of when he gets the opportunity to make that impact in 2026.

"Then, it translates really quickly because he’s come in, he’s worked incredibly hard," Golesh said. "He’s got stuff you can’t really coach.”

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