Pro Day on the Plains: Stars’ return ‘actually excellent news’ for Auburn basketball – Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – With scouts from a majority of NBA franchises taking notes, Auburn held Pro Day Wednesday at Neville Arena.

“It was good for our guys to get out there and compete,” stated head coach Steven Pearl of the scrimmage-heavy exercise.

Bruce Pearl’s choice to step away from teaching final week opened a 30-day window for Auburn’s student-athletes to switch, an possibility Steven Pearl says none will train.

“We want guys who want to be here,” he stated. “We need guys who need to proceed to maintain this factor transferring in the proper path. Both Tahaad (Pettiford) and Keyshawn Hall informed the workforce at this time that they had been planning on coming again and being at Auburn this 12 months, not coming into the switch portal and wished to stay it out with this group this 12 months.

“Really good news for the program today is that we’re going to be able to keep this group together for this upcoming season and all the guys we had in the summer are going to be putting on an Auburn jersey this year.”

Steven Pearl recapped the occasions of the whirlwind week since his introduction final Wednesday.

“We were going to do everything we could to make sure they were in the best possible positions for themselves and their families,” he stated. “Having very optimistic, detailed conversations about what our imaginative and prescient is for these gamers and what our imaginative and prescient is for the way forward for Auburn basketball.

“Incredibly grateful to all of them for being so understanding of not just BP’s situation but the situation that this staff is in right now. They’ve put a lot of trust into this staff and this university to finish the job that we talked about in the recruiting process. Our guys have been incredibly resilient, they’ve responded and they’ve done a great job of handling some adversity.”

Pearl shared his observations from the primary week and a half of preseason apply.

“When we run our offense and execute at a high level, we’ve got a chance to do some things on the offensive end,” he stated. “The biggest glare for me is defensively. We’ve got a lot of progress we have to make. We’re not as physical or as big as we were a year ago.”

Keyshawn Hall, the Big 12’s main scorer final season at Central Florida, offers flexibility at 6-foot-7 along with his capability to play ahead or guard.

“He wanted to prove to the country that he’s a winner, and he’s not just a talented scorer,” Pearl stated. “One of the things he talked about in the recruiting process was, ‘I’m going to Auburn because I want to be a better defender.’ He knows that’s an important piece to finish his game and get him into a position to play at the next level.”

Freshman level guard Kaden Magwood confirmed out for the professional scouts, making 5 of 6 pictures and distributing 4 assists with just one turnover.

“In an environment with NBA scouts, being able to be composed, make shots and not turn the ball over was a very positive thing,” Pearl stated. “For this to be a practice where there are NBA scouts gives me confidence that the moment may not be too big for him.”

The Tigers have two weeks to organize for his or her first preseason sport Oct. 15 vs. Oklahoma State at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer