AUBURN | In each of his first three seasons at Auburn, Horace Spencer has attempted and missed one 3-point shot. He’s preparing to take many more as a senior.
Spencer is well along in his transition from center to power forward, which should offer the Philadelphia, Pa., native more opportunities to make long-range shots.
“I've been working on shooting 3’s before last season ended. I just kept on working at it, trying to get better,” Spencer said. “I've tried to work on hitting the open shot, not a contested shot, but hitting more of my open shots so I can be a better contributor on the offensive end and be even better offensively this year, including my three-point shot, so that's just trying to help the team more than having my own individual stat.”
Spencer is moving to the 4 position to make room for the return of junior center Austin Wiley, who was suspended last season. Wiley and junior Anfernee McLemore are expected to split the minutes at the 5 while Spencer and sophomore Chuma Okeke will give the Tigers a talented duo at power forward.
“Horace is a good ball handler and a good passer,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He’s also become a better shooter. His quickness can maybe match up defensively with fours, so truly all spring and summer and even the fall, we have been trying to convert him from an undersized center to a regular-sized power forward. We’ve sort-of replaced Desean Murray.”
Spencer averaged 5.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and had 65 blocks last season. But he’s a very valuable teammate on and off the court and relishes the leadership role he’s taken this year.
“I try to just play my role,” Spencer said. “I want to be one of the toughest guys on the court and lead by example. I want to be one of the toughest guys on the court. I want to show the new guys how the program has come a long way. I want to prove that anything is possible. I want them to stay positive and give God all the glory.”
After winning only the third SEC regular season championship in school history and advancing to the second round of the NCAA last season, expectations going into this season are understandably high.
“We added new pieces so I feel like we should go even farther than we did last year,” Spencer said. “I feel like we are going to go into the tournament this year and just continue to progress through and contend all through the NCAA Tournament. We're going to try to compete in our league, try to be the best in our league and try to be the best that we can possibly be the entire season and stay strong.”
Auburn will hold a Tipoff at Toomers next Thursday at 8 p.m. CT. The Tigers will host an exhibition game against Lincoln Memorial Nov. 2 and open the season at home against South Alabama Nov. 6.
