Pearl planning shift in style
AUBURN | Last season, Auburn used its speed, defense and 3-point shooting to advance to the first Final Four in program history.
But Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke — the keystones of that attack — are off to play professional ball, leaving coach Bruce Pearl with a new team and a new approach for his sixth season leading the Tigers.
“They were all really good shooters. I can’t imagine we’re going to shoot it as well or be as fast,” Pearl said. “We’re going to be bigger, stronger, more physical and we’re going to have to go to our strengths.”
The strengths start in the frontcourt where Auburn returns seniors Anfernee McLemore and Austin Wiley. McLemore, who can play forward or center, and Wiley, who is a more traditional center, have overcome injuries in their Auburn careers but enter this fall in the best shape of their careers.
Senior forward/wing Danjel Purifoy also returns and the frontcourt will be further bolstered by the addition of freshman center Babatunde Akingbola, a premiere shot blocker, freshman forward/wing Isaac Okoro, a physical defender, freshman forward/wing Devan Cambridge, freshman forward Jaylin Williams and junior college transfer forward Javon Franklin.
“We’ve got great experience on the front line, we’ve got great depth on the front line and we’re just by nature of our roster going to be much bigger. Therefore we’re not going to be as fast,” Pearl said.
The backcourt will be led by senior point guard J’Von McCormick and senior wing Samir Doughty, but depth is an issue with freshman Tyrell Jones expected to backup McCormick at point and freshman Allen Flanigan providing depth on the wing. Further help will come from sophomore wing Jamal Johnson, who sat out last season after transferring from Memphis.
Defensively, Auburn has mainly relied on an aggressive man-to-man defense to force turnovers and jumpstart the fast break under Pearl. But that approach could also be modified to fit this year’s team.
“We’ll probably play some more zone than we’ve been playing because of our length,” Pearl said.
While there will definitely be some changes, there’s also plenty that won’t change thanks to the leadership of Pearl’s five seniors and a group of newcomers that are determined to make an early mark.
“You talk about culture, the biggest thing that’s left from where we left off was the work ethic and the culture of working and the culture of being in the gym,” Pearl said. “And that’s just continued all summer. Our guys were in the gym all summer.
“We’re only out with them for four hours a week, and we were, and they get a total of eight. But I know they do a lot of stuff on their own. I’m just telling you, we’ve got a team of gym rats.”