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Purifoy primed for return

AUBURN | It was a simple tweet and really all that needed to be said. And it came just minutes after No. 8 Auburn’s win over Dayton Saturday night.

“I’m officially back,” Danjel Purifoy tweeted

Purifoy, who hasn’t played since scoring 13 points against Missouri March 8, 2017, will return for this Saturday’s game against UAB. He’s served a 43-game suspension (all of last season and 30 percent of this season) for his role in the FBI probe into college basketball corruption.

A 647-day layoff officially ends against the Blazers.

Purifoy will return for Saturday's game against UAB.
Purifoy will return for Saturday's game against UAB. (Ben Wolk/AuburnSports.com)
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“Oh, it's going to be great having him back out there,” said point guard Jared Harper. “I know he's been waiting a long time to be back there on the court. We saw him a little bit in the exhibition game, that was his first game in a while. I know he's been working hard over the last weeks. He's been losing some weight.

“I know he's going to be excited to be out there practicing and just getting ready to play in Birmingham, which is not far from where he's from. I know he's going to have a lot of family and friend support out there. That's big for him.”

Purifoy averaged 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and made a team-high 59 3-pointers as a redshirt freshman in 2016-17. He scored five points and had one rebound in 17 minutes during Auburn’s exhibition win over Lincoln Memorial Nov. 2.

He’s expected to play the 3 position for the Tigers where Samir Doughty has started all nine games this season. But Purifoy has the versatility to play 4, where he played two years ago, or even one of the guard spots in a pinch.

“Danjel played some four his freshman year. He learned the three this summer. So to be able to play both positions is very key,” assistant coach Steven Pearl said. “His ability to shoot the ball in our offense is important, really stretches the floor depending on what position he plays. So he'll definitely bring an offensive component to the table, whichever position he plays.

“And then defensively, he's got some work to do, if you know, play the three, be able to guard smaller players. And at the four, he's got nice physicality, but a tougher, bigger four, so he brings versatility to the table, which is always beneficial.

Perhaps most importantly, Purifoy will give the Tigers 10 scholarship players in the rotation. That quality depth is something that’s been rare at Auburn in the past.

“Having 10 guys is huge strength,” Pearl said. “Last year we would have died to have this problem. We played nine guys for 26 games, we were 23-3 going into South Carolina and then Anfernee (McLemore) has that awful injury. I would have died to have Daniel last year, you know what I mean? Then you can plug him in at the 3 or the 4 and then you have two guys at every position.

“If guards gets in foul trouble, Danjel can play some 3. If one of our big guys gets in foul trouble, he can play some 4. I don’t think it’s a problem. It’s a terrific strength to have when you have 10 guys and you can play 10 guys. With the way we play and the way we guard, foul trouble is inevitable. It’s going to happen every single game. I think it’s nothing but a plus.”

Tip-off in Legacy Arena, formerly the BJCC, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on CBS Sports Network.

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