AUBURN — As Auburn leaves for the SEC Tournament, Bruce Pearl can confidently say he has nine healthy players on his roster.
That's more than he could say last season.
Down to a seven-man rotation at times last year, Pearl won't have to worry about a hobbled Bryce Brown entering the postseason. He doesn't have to do an end-of-season scramble to figure out how he'd replace Anfernee McLemore whose season ended due to a broken leg.
On the contrary, Pearl is talking about the possibility of adding a body for the postseason.
"Austin Wiley did practice with us [Monday]. He practiced against [Tuesday]. His status is still day-to-day," Pearl said. "I hope he's available. I don't know whether he will be or not."
This serves as a minor upgrade from Wiley's "doubtful" status the last four games.
In that four-game stretch, Auburn has had its most successful run of the year. Still, there's no debate within the Tigers locker room about whether they want the 6-foot-10 big man back for tournament action. Pearl has made it clear the team is different on the defensive end and rebounding the basketball when Wiley is a part of the rotation.
McLemore, who missed postseason play last year, has been in the gym with Wiley. He said he believes Wiley is close to returning to his normal self.
"Austin is feeling good. He’s been lifting and working out real good, so we plan to get him back, too. We’re just really preparing right now," McLemore said. "I just got out of the weight room with him. He’s getting stronger, he’s getting better, he’s feeling good. His leg, he’s still wearing a brace on it, but he’s moving good. He was working out with the team yesterday on the court, so I think he’s just kind of taking his time and making sure he’s fully ready to come back and ready to play again."
Auburn's fast-and-free offensive style caters to a center of McLemore's ilk more than Wiley.
But playing 20-plus minutes with a 6-foot-7 center has its own deficiencies.
McLemore can get into trouble on the defensive end, grappling with larger opponents. His fouling tendencies have improved the last couple games — same with Horace Spencer as they've both adjusted to increased minutes — but it was a problem at times this year, especially the South Carolina loss. Auburn has been out-rebounded considerably against SEC teams with upper-echelon talent such as Mississippi State and Tennessee.
McLemore made it clear this Auburn basketball team could use Wiley in the SEC Tournament and beyond.
"It would help a lot, because Austin, he’s just a great player, great rebounder, just a big body that’s down there in the paint," McLemore said. "Just to be able to go back to where we were, playing that kind of two-big-man style offense where you run different plays for him than you would for me, that kind of just makes the scout a little bit harder on the other team, to try to scout against us. It’s just good for morale on the bench because you know we have our brother back, that he’s on the court again and playing good. It just helps the team morale overall."
