Former Auburn safety Chris Thompson Jr. announces transfer destination

Former Auburn safety Chris Thompson Jr. has announced his new school destination after he entered the transfer portal earlier this month. He’s headed to Southern Cal.

Thompson, who spent one year at Auburn, is a former 4-star recruit out of Duncanville (Texas) High, Thompson chose to play for Auburn over the likes of Ohio State, Texas, Southern Cal and Alabama, among others. He was the 247Sports Composite’s No. 199 overall prospect, No. 17 safety and No. 29 player in Texas for the 2020 class.

Thompson played in six games with eight tackles last season.

Thompson was a part of a flurry of Gus Malzahn signees who have exited The Plains in recent weeks, including defensive linemen Jaren Handy and Jay Hardy and quarterback Chayil Garnett.

Before the transfer, Thompson was expected to compete for a backup position this year behind Smoke Monday.

Here’s his bio from Auburn:

2020: True freshman safety who played in six games … saw first action against Georgia … 2 tackles vs. LSU … 3 tackles in Citrus Bowl … SEC academic honor roll

High School: Physical defender who arrived at Auburn in January … punishing tackler for Coach Reginald Samples at Duncanville High, helping the Panthers advance to the Class 6A state semifinals as a senior and finals as a junior … Under Armour All-America Game … second team TSWA all-state as a junior … preseason SportsDay area defensive player of the year … first team all-area … Watkins Award national semi-finalist … Tom Landry Award finalist … academic all-state and National Honor Society … USA Today high school sports award … also a track and field and basketball letterman … MaxPreps All-American … ESPN rates him the No. 2 safety prospect nationally … top 30 player in Texas by 247, ESPN, PrepStar.

God’s Speed! Let’s do it LA! #Committed #FightOn ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/rNtA52kmqC

— ChrisThompsonJr (@christhompjr) May 13, 2021

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.