Inside Walker Kessler's decision to transfer to Auburn

When Walker Kessler announced on Tuesday plans to transfer from North Carolina to Auburn, many in the basketball world were surprised.

And why wouldn’t they be?

Less than a year earlier, Kessler, a 5-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American from Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., had chosen the Tarheels over the Tigers.

Kessler was set to play in Chapel Hill, and for the 2020-21 season, he did.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The world transitioned, as did Kessler.

After playing in all 29 games as a true freshman, Kessler wanted a change. He wanted something new and, most importantly, he wanted it to be closer to home.

“I think that played a major part,” Austin Ewing, who is a close friend of the Kesslers, said. “Walker wanted to not only be closer to home, but be able to share in the experience of playing college basketball with his family who are at home.”

Ewing would know. He’s a mentor to Kessler. He’s trained Kessler since Kessler was in the fifth grade. Ewing has been by Kessler’s side throughout his recruitments, both out of high school and the transfer portal.

Ewing knew Kessler wanted to leave North Carolina and be closer to home. He knew Kessler loved Auburn and Auburn loved Kessler.

Ewing didn’t know, however, if Auburn would be the best fit.

“One of the positives for Walker and Auburn was his relationships from the first time around,” Ewing said. “Coach (Bruce) Pearl and his staff have been recruiting Walker since the ninth grade. Pearl was one of the first people to not only believe in him, but also offer him a scholarship. So when Pearl started recruiting Walker again out of the transfer portal, Walker already was very comfortable with that relationship.”

But whether or not Auburn was the right fit schematically was a different story.

“For the longest, one of the biggest concerns with Auburn was style of play,” Ewing said. “Coach Pearl had never had a player over 7-feet at any of the schools he’d been at, not a guy with Walker’s abilities to step out on the perimeter. Pearl has been the architect of small ball. He runs a 4-out 1-in system, so we thought Walker would be relegated to just being under the basket.”

For that reason, Ewing initially didn’t believe Kessler would transfer to Auburn. Kessler had other options, including national runner-up Gonzaga. Kessler also could return to North Carolina under new coach Hubert Davis.

Either of the two sounded better than Auburn, at least that's what Ewing thought.

Then Pearl stepped in.

Not Bruce. Steven.

Steven Pearl, the son of Bruce and assistant coach at Auburn, put together a presentation for Kessler. Steven Pearl wanted Kessler to see Auburn’s plans and how he would be utilized in Auburn’s offense.

The presentation was presented last week over a Zoom call. It would be what changed the course of Kessler’s recruitment.

“The Zoom call really changed things,” Ewing said. “We were blown away. Steven blew us away. After the meeting I joked with Steven about how his head coaching debut is coming if he’s not lying in wait for his father’s job. When it comes to analytics, data, research, strategy, he is really, really high level. He has a ton of respect from me.

“I’ve been blessed to be involved in Walker’s recruitment process and been able to meet some extraordinary people, men and coaches, and Steven is definitely up there with the best of them. The analytics, the identification, the presentation, he was very integral in the presentation and very integral in Walker choosing Auburn.”

So what was it about the presentation that was so impressive, impressive enough to change Kessler’s recruitment?

“They run a 4-out 1-in system, but they have the ability to interchange at any given moment,” Ewing said. “That is a matchup problem and a matchup nightmare for the defense given the bigs Auburn will have on its roster next year.”

That includes 5-star McDonald’s All-American Jabari Smith, who signed with Auburn in November. Smith and Kessler could interchange from post to perimeter creating mismatches.

“Having Jabari is big for Walker,” Ewing said. “It’s important that Walker have someone who can be interchangeable to that low spot. If you don’t have an interchangeable guy, Walker is never going to see the perimeter.”

And Kessler needs to see the perimeter. He’s a big guy, yes, but he’s also athletic and can shoot from the outside. Having a guy like Smith provides a guy like Kessler the ability to showcase his full talents.

“If Walker and Jabari are on the floor at the same time and Walker is down low and has a 7-foot slow-footed guy on him, they can change and Walker is now on the perimeter and Jabari is now on the interior,” Ewing said. “It is very important to have that on the roster and Jabari is that guy at Auburn. Him being there is huge. With Jabari there’s no possibility with the shooters that Auburn will always have on the perimeter that you can double.

“Defenses won’t be able to double down and that’s when the matchup can be exploited. That’s the NBA. You identify the matchup and exploit. It is going to be very hard to guard. That’s Auburn’s offense.”

And now Kessler will be part of it.