AUBURN | An up and down career at Auburn could end on a high note for Danjel Purifoy.

The fifth-year senior is coming off a strong offseason as he competes for a starting position as the Tigers look to replace three starters from last year’s Final Four team.

“He’s lost a lot of weight. He’s been in the gym heavy and he’s just making the shots and making the plays that we need him to make,” said senior point guard J’Von McCormick.

“He knows this is his last chance and he’s got to make the best of it so he put in the time in the offseason.”

Purifoy redshirted his first season at Auburn due to questions over his ACT score. He followed that up with a strong season in 2016-17, averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals. He started 25 games.

But a suspension kept him sidelined for the entire 2017-18 season and the first nine games of 18-19. When he finally returned to playing competitive basketball after 21 months, he averaged 12.3 minutes per game and started just once last season, filling in for the injured Chuma Okeke in the Final Four game against Virginia.

“It's been rough, but I don't let the rough times outweigh the good times, and there's been a lot of good times. That's the only thing that I think about,” Purifoy said.

It’s Okeke, the 16th overall pick of the Orlando Magic in the 2019 NBA Draft, that Purifoy’s skillset most resembles, if he can put it all together on the court.

“They play the same position, they do a lot of things similarly, but I think that Danjel can learn from some of the things that Chuma did that I think Danjel has but just doesn’t always show,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “Danjel’s a better outside shooter than Chuma. And there are also a lot of intangible things that Chuma did that Danjel can do. So just being more dominant, just being more assertive.

“Danjel had an offseason where he became one of our hardest workers. And that’s a big jump simply from the standpoint of, always had talent but through a number of different reasons including some setbacks, he’s just never been able to put it all together. This is the closest he’s been to being able to put it all together, and as a result I think he can have a breakout season.”

Purifoy lost 12 pounds working out three times a day and will enter this season at about 232 pounds.

“I can move better, jump like I used to. I'm just more confident in myself,” he said.

He’s also on schedule to become only the fourth college graduate in his family in December.

“It's my last year here. I was just thinking about it. I'm going to miss it. I want to leave out on a good note,” Purifoy said.

Auburn will host Eckerd in an exhibition game Nov. 1. The regular season begins at against Georgia Southern Nov. 5.