Bruce Pearl knows what he lost from Auburn's first-ever Final Four team. But that doesn't mean he's not confident in the veteran talent that returns to the Plains this season.

After losing first-rounder Chuma Okeke, current NBA G-leaguers Jared Harper and Bryce Brown, overseas signee Horace Spencer, and sixth man Malik Dunbar, Pearl will rely on his new seniors as Auburn looks to defend its SEC crown and contend again in March.

"Our biggest challenge is going to be our seniors — all are going to be playing a brand new role," Pearl told reporters Wednesday. "All five of those seniors, if you think about it, are going to be asked to do something different than what they did a year ago."

Auburn rolled out eight new players and five vets when it officially began practice Tuesday. Pearl said he's never been a part of a roster in his 41 years of college basketball coaching that is so and ready to get started on one end, while at the same time, so green and unsure on the other.

"The seniors are ready to go, and a lot of the newcomers are still trying to learn where to go," Pearl said.

The sheer age and experience difference of the roster makes for an "interesting challenge" for Pearl this season. He's taking it slow right now with the newer players — Pearl noted he's run it back and re-explained concepts in practice more so than he'd like to — but he still wants his talented crop of freshmen and transfers to be assertive.

He knows the seniors — forward/center Anfernee McLemore, point guard J'Von McCormick, wing Samir Doughty, forward Danjel Purifoy and center Austin Wiley — can't conquer the treacherous SEC slate alone. As the season nears, Pearl will be looking for a handful of new players to emerge from the pack and establish themselves as sure-fire contributors.

"Which one of the newcomers can come in and help out real quickly?" Pearl said. "... But for all of them, it's going to be them getting ready for the following year, to become sophomores, to have that second year under their belt."

And while the Tigers' 2019 class — rated No. 15 in the nation to compliment a pair of high-profile transfers in Jamal Johnson and Javon Franklin — is champing at the bit, Pearl is sure that they've all known the situation they're stepping into for some time.

"I think because the newcomers were all recruited the right way, in the sense that knowing they weren't promised the rose garden, they all knew there was a senior class in front of them," Pearl said. "And so, there weren't total promises made other than, here's where the opportunities are now."