AUBURN | Bruce Pearl has elevated Auburn’s basketball program in to a championship contender over the past six seasons. Here’s a look at his top point guards starting with a three-year starter that led the Tigers to the Final Four.
1. Jared Harper (2016-19)
This is a no-brainer. Harper led Auburn to the Final Four in 2019 and finished his three-year career with 511 assists, which ranks fifth in school history, 418 made free throws, which ranks second, 213 made 3-pointers, which ranks sixth, and 1,427 points, which ranks 14th. He’s the third AU player with more than 1,000 points and 500 assists in a career. His 231 assists in 2018-19 are the most in Auburn single-season history. He averaged 13.5 points and 4.8 assists in 106 career games, leading Auburn to an SEC regular season championship in 2018 and Tournament championship in 2019. He was second-team All-SEC and NCAA Midwest Regional MVP in 2019 leading AU to back-to-back-to-back wins over Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
2. J’Von McCormick (2018-20)
A junior college transfer, McCormick backed up Harper in 2018-19 before becoming the full-time starter last season. He flourished as a starter averaging 11.7 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, leading the Tigers to a 25-6 record and No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament before the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus global pandemic. His 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio was second in the SEC and he set a program record with 16 assists against CSUN. He was named SEC Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 28 points in a win at Mississippi State and had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, hitting the game-winning shot in an overtime win over LSU with less than a second left.
3. Kareem Canty (2014-16)
Canty sat out his first season at Auburn after transferring from Marshall and then led the team in scoring the first 21 games of 2015-16 before being suspended for two games and then quitting the team. In his 21 starts, Canty averaged 18.3 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. His career highlights came in back-to-back wins over Kentucky and Alabama in which he averaged 25.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds.
4. K.C. Ross-Miller (2014-15)
Played one season at Auburn after coming from New Mexico State as a grad transfer. He averaged 7.1 points, 2.4 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35 games including 27 starts. His best game came during a three-game winning streak in the 2015 SEC Tournament when he scored 21 points and had seven rebounds and three steals in an opening win over Mississippi State.
5. Ronnie Johnson (2016-17)
A graduate transfer from Houston, Johnson served as the backup point guard to Harper for one season, starting two games. He averaged 7.8 points, 2.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game. He had eight assists in a win over Mississippi State and followed that up with a season-high 18 points and eight assists in a loss at Ole Miss. He scored 17 and 15 points in home and away wins over Alabama. Johnson is a cousin of former Auburn coach and player Chuck Person.
6. Malcolm Canada (2013-15)
Served as Auburn’s backup point guard for two consecutive seasons after transferring from junior college including backing up Ross-Miller in 2014-15. He started three games in 2014-15 averaging 5.7 points, 2.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game as a senior. He had his best game against LSU in the SEC Tournament with 14 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks in a 73-70 overtime win.
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