Jersey guard commits

AUBURN | Auburn has reached into the Garden State to land one of the nation's top basketball prospects.

Four-star point guard Tahaad Pettiford from Hudson Catholic in Jersey City, N.J., committed to the Tigers Wednesday over a group of finalists that included Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, UConn, Seton Hall and Ole Miss.

Pettiford, 6-foot-0 and 170 pounds, is rated the nation's No. 21 prospect in the 2024 class.

Pettiford averaged 18.4 points and made 42 3-pointers as a sophomore for Hudson Catholic. He averaged 15.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals, and made 21 3-pointers in 13 games for New Heights Lightning in AAU tournaments last summer.

He is the fifth-highest-rated commitment of the Bruce Pearl era trailing only Jabari Smith (7th), Austin Wiley (16th), Mustapha Heron (19th) and Yohan Traore (19th).

Pettiford is scheduled to sign with Auburn in November of 2023 and enroll for the 2024-25 season.