MINNEAPOLIS — Samir Doughty jokes that he tried to recruit Horace Spencer before Spencer ever recruited him.

Doughty and Spencer were 11 and 12 years old, playing AAU ball in Philadelphia. As Doughty tells it, he and Spencer were on different teams at the time. But Doughty's coach wanted Spencer to play for them, so they set up a couple of playing opportunities with Spencer's side to try to persuade him to come on board.

That didn't end up happening, but Doughty and Spencer have had intertwined careers ever since.

Doughty was on the Philly Pride. Spencer played for the Philadelphia Aztecs. As two of the best AAU teams in Philadelphia, they've been in the same basketball circles for a while.

Dating back to their early teenage days, Doughty knew all about Spencer who was one of the top rising prospects in the country.

"I was familiar with him. I don’t know if he was familiar with me. He was highly-recruited at that time. He was like No. 1 in the country since he was like 12 to 15. He was really good," Doughty said. "Everybody was familiar with Horace."

Spencer doesn't hide from his Philadelphia status.

He requested Friday that Doughty be asked for confirmation on this, but that Spencer — as early as age 12 — was dunking on his undersized, unable-to-matchup opponents. Doughty laughed when asked to confirm. But, as much as he wanted to take a jab at Spencer, he couldn't deny it.

"Dunking, playing point guard, he was doing everything," Doughty said. "He was an amazing person to watch."

Little did they know their paths would cross again — in Auburn, Ala.

They didn't keep up much when Spencer started at Auburn and Doughty started at VCU. But they reconnected again when Doughty decided to transfer from his first college destination. Philadelphia connections to former assistant Harris Adler bridged Doughty's transition from VCU to Auburn.

But Doughty also credits Spencer who hosted the transfer forward on his visit to the Plains.

"He just talked about the real stuff. He gave me the run down and was just being honest with me. He was telling me all about the coaches, the players, the good stuff, the bad stuff. He was just being honest with me," Doughty said. "He left the decision 100 percent up to me, but he told me before the visit that he was just going to be completely honest with me. He didn’t lie about nothing to me."

Now, the Auburn Tigers — with two Philly boys — will play in the Final Four together.

They pride themselves on their "Philly swag," the hard-nosed mentality they bring to the basketball court. Spencer talks glowingly about Auburn family, and it's the same sales pitch he gave Doughty when Spencer hosted him on his official visit. But there's a level of Philadelphia pride those two share as well.

To combine those two loves — Auburn and Philadelphia — on a national stage has brought the Doughty-Spencer brotherhood even closer together.

"I just wanted him to feel like he could come to Auburn and be comfortable. He could play ball. I said, ‘You get to be part of a family more than just be a basketball player,’" Spencer said. "I just wanted to show him to be himself. Don’t try to be nobody else. Just be comfortable. Be who you are. They’re going to love you regardless. They’re going to love what you do for Auburn."