AUBURN | Don’t be surprised if Sharife Cooper, Allen Flanigan and JT Thor all declare for the 2021 NBA Draft. They may even sign with an agent and attend the NBA Combine.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t return to Auburn next season. It means the answer to that Sharife question may not come until late May or early June.
Here’s how Bruce Pearl addressed it after Auburn’s 78-71 win over Mississippi State Saturday.
“We've got several guys who are gonna need to get evaluated as far as where they would go in the draft if they declared as eligible,” Pearl said. “And we might have a couple of guys who will declare and see if they can move their way up or not.”
Anybody hoping to get a definitive answer from Cooper, and potentially Flanigan or Thor, this week or next will have to be patient.
In fact, the NBA still hasn’t released dates for its 2021 Draft or combine. Last year’s was pushed back to November due to to COVID-19 pandemic but previous drafts have been in June.
Looking back to 2019, the combine was May 15-19 and the draft June 20. Players have until 10 days after the combine to withdraw. In recent years, the NCAA has allowed players to go deep into the process, sign with an agent and attend team tryouts and still maintain their eligibility.
If Cooper returns, Auburn has a loaded roster going into 2021-22. The only major detriment I see to potentially making a deep NCAA Tournament run is the lack of postseason experience.
Without Cooper, this staff will need to go out and find a plug-and-play transfer point guard.
Auburn is scheduled to return 11 scholarship players from this year’s team and has two highly-regarded signees coming in. Outside of Cooper, Flanigan and Thor, there could be some other movement on AU’s roster.
That’s just part of college basketball. Auburn’s brought in some real difference-makers via transfers and Pearl and his staff will be ready to pounce if spots come open.
***
Pundits and fans are quick to throw out the blame when a team blows a lead like Auburn did Sunday as Boston College rallied for eight runs with two outs in the ninth to tie the game 9-9, and then won it in the 10th.
That was certainly a disastrous collapse from Auburn’s perspective.
But that’s ignoring what was a tremendous comeback by the Eagles, one which they earned at the plate. Here’s what happened with two on and two outs in the ninth: Single, single, hit by pitch, walk, double, 3-run home run.
Their two runs in the 10th came on a home run. All 10 of their runs in the last two innings were earned.
Should AU have made different pitching moves? Well, they never get to Cam Hill, who gave up five of the runs in the ninth, if Carson Skipper doesn’t leave with an injury after getting two outs in the sixth. Seb Thomas, who gave up the 3-run home run in the ninth, had a 1.69 ERA coming into the weekend.
What about Peyton Glavine, who gave up the 2-run home run in the 10th? He hadn’t allowed a run in two appearance including shutting down a hot-hitting Baylor lineup for 3.0 innings the previous Saturday.
Auburn is still trying to figure out its bullpen and with Jack Owen, Cody Greenhill, and now Richard Fitts and Skipper injured, the ranks have been thinned.
Most of those guys will be back within the next week or two, so it’s bound to get better. AU’s staff should also have enough information now to start defining roles a little bit better too.
Yes, that was a tough loss. But it’s better to learn these lessons now than when the Tigers open up SEC play at Ole Miss in two weeks.
***
In today’s musical journey, we go back six years to the day an artist matched the Beatles record for most songs charted at one time. On March 7, 2015, 14 songs from Aubrey Drake Graham’s mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, charted on the Billboard’s Hot 100. Only the Beatles were able to accomplish this feat in April of 1964. Drake’s mixtape broke Spotify’s first-week streaming record with 17.2 streams over the first three days. It’s gone on to sell over 2 million units and is certified double platinum. Drake went on to break his record with 24 charted songs in April of 2017 and then broke it again with 27 in July of 2018.
Drake was born and grew up in Toronto, Canada. He started out acting at age 15, appearing in 100 episodes of the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001-08. After being inspired by Jay-Z, Drake began his music career by producing a mixtape in 2006. His next mixtape in 07 helped open up a relationship with Lil Wayne. The two have collaborated on a number of projects and Drake signed with Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment in 2009. He released his debut album, Thank Me Later, in 2010 featuring Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Jay Z. Drake has gone on to become one of the best-selling music artists off all time with over 170 million records sold. He’s won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two Brit Awards and 27 Billboard Music Awards. He’s charted a record 209 songs on the Hot 100.
If You’re Reading This It's Too Late was released in February of 2015. Rolling Stone ranked it as the second-best rap album and third-best overall album of 2015. One of the most popular songs from the album is Energy, which includes a takedown of people that spend too much time on the internet: F*ck going online, that ain’t part of my day.
