The SEC programs are about to have a good ol’ fashioned tug-of-war this off-season. Right now it’s for the 4-star tight end Kaiden Prothro. The suitors are swarming around the Bowdon star. It looks like one of the top soon-to-be senior prospects in Peach State is down to his final five schools. Earlier, it was only the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, and Texas Longhorns who were early in the race to land Prothro. Here come two more suitors.

Florida Gators and Auburn Tigers joined the race as the TE narrowed his list of top schools down to five. But what does the athlete say about the participant programs? 

The key decision factors for Kaiden Prothro

Well, the craze is pretty expected. After all, the 6’6.5″ 210-pounder is the No. 32 overall prospect and No. 2 TE in the 2026 cycle. He already has 31 offers under his belt. Prothro has locked in four official visits to each of his finalists aside from Texas. The dates of his visits are already here. The tight end will be visiting Georgia on May 30, followed by Tuscaloosa on June 6. After that, Auburn on June 10. He will be visiting Florida on June 13. During his visits, he will be carrying his strong resume. Prothro caught 56 passes for a whopping 1,203 yards and 22 touchdowns. Across his first three seasons, he has been able to leave a mark by racking up 39 scores and over 2,200 receiving yards.

The suspense is building to find Prothro’s new home as 247 Sports made an IG post on February 11, sharing clips from the tight end’s practice. The caption read, “4⭐️ TE Kaiden Prothro is down to 5️⃣ Where do you want to see the No. 4 TE in 2026 play in college? 🏈.” It must be equally thrilling for the athlete himself. Now what does he have to say about receiving so much love and attention?

Prothro dropped a bombshell update. He said to On3, “All schools are level right now. “It will come down to a place where I want to be all the time. I want to go where people generally care for me and where I will be happy not just for a year, but for the whole time I am there. That will be a big part of my decision.”

Now that he has come down to five schools, there remain two criteria. One is how the programs run themselves. Second, how their running is going to develop him as a player. He summed it up by saying, “These five schools made the list because I could see myself playing there. I like how they run things and how they could develop me. Now I have to take my visits and see which one I feel the best about.” Prothro has already started to do homework on his suitors. 

What does Kaiden Prothro feel about his suitors?  

Amidst dealing with blue-blood schools, he might want to stay close to home. After all, Prothro, being a Georgia native and having visited the in-state school over half a dozen times, stays 140 miles east of the Bulldogs’ Athens campus. Plus, Kirby Smart comes off as a recruitment guru as the Bulldogs have the 2nd-highest-rated recruiting class for 2025. “Coach [Todd] Hartley and the relationship we have stands out most about Georgia. Then how they use tight ends in the offense is something else I like and the program is steadily going up,” Prothro said about Georgia.

He shares this familiarity with Auburn and Alabama, as he has visited their campuses almost four to five times each. Kalen DeBoer and Co. secured the commitment of 4-star cornerback Zyan Gibson last month. Now Prorthro remains their key target. “Coach was telling me that they don’t have no guys like me, just some in-line guys, who just go out and catch passes, but they can still run when they need guys to split out and just do their thing,” the tight end said about Alabama.

Looks like the Auburn Tigers have wooed Prothro too. Even though HC Hugh Freeze fights to keep his job, the tight end had only good things to say about the program. “Coach Freeze is doing a great job at Auburn…They are readily going up and I love how the players and coaches have good relationships there. They use their tight ends too.” Kaiden Prothro has a spread of elite programs to choose from—now it’s time to see which one he’ll call home.