Summer of Pearl
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LAGRANGE, Ga. | Last summer, Bruce PearlClick [rl]Here to view this Link.'s first at Auburn, was a little subdued as he waited out the end of his NCAA show cause penalty.
This spring and summer, Pearl has been unleashed on the recruiting trail, hitting up AAU tournaments in April with a return planned in July. He'll also be hosting a number of camps in June.
But beyond recruiting and camps, Pearl must begin to build his second team at Auburn, one he hopes will be ready to compete for postseason play.
"Potentially half the roster will be new so it's a really important summer for us," Pearl said.
May 26 is report day for most of Auburn's signees including guards Bryce Brown, New Williams and T.J. Dunans, and power forward Horace Spencer.
Auburn hopes to add a graduate transfer to the group in the next few weeks.
The only signee not expected to report until later this summer is small forward Danjel Purifoy.
"A lot of it has to do with just finishing up summer school and some of it has to do with graduation dates, when they're finished and whether or not they can get here," Pearl said.
They'll join another semi-newcomer in guard Kareem Canty, who sat out last season after transferring from Marshall.
Pearl is also expecting junior guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen back by the end of summer after he underwent surgeries on both shoulders. The surgery and rehab of his left shoulder was completed earlier this year and he's currently rehabbing his right shoulder.
"He's scheduled to come out of that sling any day," Pearl said. "The right one was not as severe.
"He'll be ready to go for the season ... I think he can do things this summer as far as rehab but I don't see him playing until maybe even August."
