Bruce Pearl's waiting game for Babatunde "Stretch" Akingbola has finally concluded.

The former 4-star center prospect, who played his high school ball with fellow Auburn signee Isaac Okoro at McEachern High School in Power Springs, Ga., spent nine months in his native home of Nigeria, shoring up visa issues.

Pearl thought at one point Akingbola would have joined the team last season. Now, the Tigers' head coach is just happy to him finally in the practice gym.

"It was really very special," Pearl said of getting Akingbola on campus. "... We were prayerful and hopeful that things would work out, and it did, for him to be able to come back and be all good. So I’m blessed for that."

As Auburn frontcourts under Pearl's regime go, 2019-20's group figures to be one of strongest — at least on the defensive end of the floor. Senior center Austin Wiley — a near-7-footer — and power forward Anfernee McLemore are the veteran rim-protectors. And Pearl is hoping the 6-foot-8 Akingbola can provide a complementary, shot-altering presence as a freshman, once the "catching up" period has ended.

"His ability to communicate defensively — his defense is ahead of his offense," Pearl said of Akingbola. "He’s got ridiculous length, changing shots, impacting us on the defense end."

Through just a handful of days of practice on the Plains, Pearl is noticing something out of Akingbola he hasn't seen in the past few years: a post defender that can challenge Wiley, a hopeful NBA prospect.

"It’s great for Austin to now finally have a big guy to go up against," Pearl said.

As is the case for each of his eight newcomers this season, Pearl isn't going to rush or force their roles. Even the best of prospects need some adequate acclimation, he said.

Auburn's frontcourt has experience, but it certainly would improve an already athletic defense if Akingbola is at least able to contribute as a lurking shot-changer that teams will have to worry about when they drive the lane this season.

"We’ve got a veteran front line, and so with Austin and Danjel and Anfernee — those three guys are all going to play," Pearl said. "So the question is going to be: which of the newcomers on the front line are going to be able to step in and complement those guys? And, certainly, Stretch is one of the candidates."

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