Auburn football just made history by landing a commitment from a 3-star offensive lineman out of New Zealand.
Nikau Hepi announced Tuesday he will head to the Plains for his college career. Hepi has been developed by the NFL Academy Asia-Pacific campus and is now the first player ever from that program to commit to a United States college.
Here’s the official confirmation for this ground-breaking moment:
Hepi is listed at 6-foot-7, so he has the size to potentially be an early contributor upon arriving at Auburn. He also had an offer from Florida State and took a trip to Tallahassee earlier this month, but ultimately chose to commit to Hugh Freeze and the Tigers.
Hepi is currently regarded as a 3-star prospect. He’s the No. 852 overall player and the No. 72 offensive tackle in the country for the class of 2026, per 247Sports Composite rankings.
He’s now the 6th player to commit to Auburn in this high school class. The Tigers are a bit behind their peers in this class so far, but they have time to add more to this upcoming high school recruiting class before the Early Signing Period begins in December.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
