AUBURN | In our ranking of the Bruce Pearl era, we’ll start with his six teams including his arrival in 2014 and his drive to take Auburn to its first-ever Final Four just over a year ago. From humble beginnings, Pearl and his staff have built the Tigers into a strong program capable of competing at the top of the SEC.
1. 2018-19 (30-10) SEC Tournament Champions, Final Four
Final Coaches Rank: 5
This was an easy pick as Auburn’s first-ever Final Four team and one that won only the second SEC Tournament title in program history. It’s also one that wasn’t even a sure thing for an NCAA Tournament bid after a blowout 80-53 loss at Kentucky Feb. 23 dropped the Tigers to 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the SEC. Auburn then proceeded to win its next 12 games going undefeated in March, including winning its final four regular season games, going 4-0 in the SEC Tournament and beating Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky back-to-back-to-back to advance to the Final Four. The Tigers lost 63-62 to eventual national champion Virginia without one of their top players after Chuma Okeke was injured at the end of the UNC game. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown finished their careers has two of the best players in school history. Okeke became the first AU player drafted in the first round since 2000.
2. 2017-18 (26-8) SEC Champions
Final Coaches Rank: 23
This team had an early 14-game winning streak including a 4-0 start in the SEC, and then followed up its first conference loss with five more consecutive wins. The Tigers lost four of their final eight games of the regular season after Anfernee McLemore suffered a season-ending injury at South Carolina Feb 17, but managed to hang on for their fourth-ever SEC regular season championship and the first since 1999. Returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years, Auburn got past College of Charleston before being dismantled by Clemson in the second round. While it was a disappointing finish, most of Auburn’s best players were returning the following season and would be highly motivated to play much better down the stretch.
3. 2019-20 (25-6)
Final Coaches Rank: 20
We’ll never know how much this team could have achieved after their season was cut short due to the coronavirus global pandemic. Auburn finished the regular season with a blowout 85-63 win at Tennessee and was poised to enter the SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed with an eye on a rematch against Kentucky in the final. The Tigers were also a lock to play in the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive season for the first time since going to five straight from 1984-88. Samir Doughty earned first-team All-SEC honors and the five seniors became the winningest class in school history midway through the season. After losing the bulk of the Final Four team, Auburn brought in a signing class that included seven newcomers. Freshman Isaac Okoro was the best of the bunch and projects as a top 10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. AU overcame four double-digit deficits and went 5-0 in overtime games.
4. 2016-17 (18-14)
Final Coaches Rank: NR
This team had to replace seven scholarship players but Pearl and his staff brought in some key freshmen that would make big contributions in the coming seasons including Harper, McLemore, Mustapha Heron and Austin Wiley. Auburn went 11-2 in non-conference play including back-to-back wins over Oklahoma and UConn before starting SEC play 0-3. The Tigers beat Missouri to end the regular season 7-11 in the conference but lost to Missouri in the first round of the SEC Tournament to end the season. Four freshmen started the majority of the games with Heron leading the team in scoring and rebounding.
5. 2014-15 (15-20)
Final Coaches Rank: NR
Pearl’s first team was led by the 3-point shooting of transfer KT Harrell along with two other D-I transfers in Antoine Mason and K.C. Ross-Miller and JUCO signee Cinmeon Bowers. Talented sophomore guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen was just starting to come into his own when a shoulder injury knocked him out of the final 11 games of the season. Auburn was just 4-14 in SEC play but Harrell led the Tigers on a magical run in the SEC Tournament with three consecutive wins before running out of gas against Kentucky in the semifinals. Harrell averaged 21.5 points during the tournament, making a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to tie LSU in the quarterfinals and another in overtime to win it.
6. 2015-16 (11-20)
Final Coaches Rank: NR
Any chance of Pearl’s second team building on the previous season’s SEC Tournament run ended when transfer Kareem Canty was suspended and then quit the team after the LSU game on Feb. 2. Canty was leading Auburn in scoring, assists and 3-point shooting. The Tigers lost eight of their final 10 games to finish 4-14 in the conference but did come away with a 75-70 win over Kentucky in mid January. Graduate transfer Tyler Harris averaged 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds while junior college transfer T.J. Dunans, Bowers and Brown, a freshman at the time, also averaged in double figures. Shamsid-Deen tried to return from successive shoulder injuries but was forced to give up basketball.
