AUBURN — Former five-star recruit Cam Coleman is one of two scholarship receivers going through spring practice as an early enrollee with Auburn football.

Naturally, he's got some tips for those set to arrive to campus later in the year. He tries to talk to Perry Thompson and Malcolm Simmons, two freshman WRs who will join the team ahead of fall practice in August, at least every other day, keeping them updated about what to expect.

His biggest tips? Take good notes during meetings and stay humble. He learned the latter rather quickly.

"Man, I got rocked in practice one time," Coleman said Thursday while discussing the importance of staying humble. "I got rocked by Eugene (Asante). I tried to crack Eugene and he was like, 'Welcome to college!' I thought I was going to get him."

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Coleman is the second-highest-rated recruit to sign with the Tigers in the modern recruiting era; Byron Cowart is the only prospect with a higher rating in the 247Sports Composite. Cowart finished the 2015 cycle with a .9987 rating. Coleman ended 2024 with a mark of .9985.

The 6-foot-3 Coleman is already getting reps with the first team in practice. He says he's gained nearly 10 pounds since he arrived at Auburn in January.

"It just happened," Coleman said of his weight gain. "I didn’t have the mindset of I’m going to get bigger. It’s just I’ve been working everyday doing small details, and it just came with time. I didn’t think I was almost going to hit 200 pounds my freshman year. I thought it was going to hit my sophomore year, but it came faster than I thought it would."

Coleman will likely see the field plenty in his first season at Auburn. The Tigers will need him to live up to his five-star billing if they want the passing offense to be better than last year; their 162.2 passing yards per game ranked last in the SEC by nearly 20 yards.

"We’ve definitely progressed during the spring because when we first started we were all trying to figure things out with the new offense," Coleman said. "Tuesday was probably our best practice because everything is starting to click and everything is starting to come together now. The timing is starting to pick up. The blocking schemes are starting to come together. It’s really going to come with time and repetition."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Cam Coleman: 5-star WR describes his 'welcome to college' moment