Bruce Pearl told reporters last Thursday that Auburn has a plan if star point guard Tahaad Pettiford remains in the NBA Draft. While some sort of backup plan is to be expected, Pearl and just about everyone else in the program would love to have the SEC All-Freshman guard back for a second season.

 

“If he decides to come back to Auburn, we’ll be a much better team,” Pearl said at the Jimmy Rane charity golf event last Thursday.

 

With the combine now over, Pettiford has had the chance to play, work out and meet with a number of NBA teams, meaning a decision could be close. The decision will have to be made by May 28 at the latest, as that is the final day for players to withdraw from the draft and maintain their college eligibility.

 

At the combine, Pettiford spent some time in the headlines at the beginning of the week, both for his testing numbers and performance in the first scrimmage.

 

He logged a 42-inch max vertical leap, the second highest at the combine, only trailing North Carolina wing Drake Powell. Pettiford’s official measurements helped his stock too, most notably standing over 6-feet barefoot and having an eight-foot standing reach.

 

The explosion came in the first scrimmage, though, where Pettiford scored 23 points and dished out eight assists, doing so on 8-for-16 shooting and 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. He led all scorers, helping guide his team to a 104-80 win.

 

Pettiford didn’t help himself as much in the second scrimmage, scoring 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting and 1-for-8 shooting from 3. He also finished the game with twice as many turnovers (six) as assists (three).

 

ESPN released a new mock draft Monday morning following the combine, projecting Pettiford to be picked 37th overall by the Detroit Pistons, keeping him in the second round.

 

Pearl spoke to reporters Monday afternoon following the combine and ESPN’s latest mock draft and reiterated that Pettiford should stay in the draft if he gets a first round guarantee, but he expects him back at Auburn next season if that doesn’t happen.

 

“He’s still in the same position he’s been in the whole time,” Pearl said at Bruce Pearl Fore the Children golf classic. “If he can get in the first round, he’s gonna go. And if he can get in the first round, he should go. If he doesn’t feel and his folks don’t feel like he is gonna be in there in the 20s somewhere, then he’ll come back.”

 

Given the latest mock draft, a guarantee seemingly remains unlikely, putting Auburn in a good position to retain the star point guard.

 

If Pettiford doesn’t return, Pearl said there are players “waiting to see what he decides” that Auburn could pursue to replace him, but didn’t give any names.

 

 

In the quarterfinals of the 2025 SEC basketball tournament, Auburn basketball defeated Ole Miss 62-57 for the third time in a matchup between conference rivals. The winner of No. 4 seed Tennessee and No. 13 Texas will face Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

The Tigers began Friday’s league schedule with the following games: In the first half, Denver Jones leads Auburn. Denver Jones, a player for Auburn, made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Tigers their opening six points against the Rebels. In the early going, the Tigers only made 25% of their deep shots, with Tahaad Pettiford and Jones only making one outside the arc.

Jones missed only one shot from the field but finished the first half with a game-high 10 points. The Tigers led by seven points at the half after nine points by Johni Broome. Auburn strung up a 16-5 run to give the Tigers their first lead of the day after falling behind 11-6 early in the half. Despite having a lead in second-chance points at the half, Ole Miss only made 27 percent of their shots from the field. Ole Miss is smothered by Auburn’s defense.

In the first half, Ole Miss played excellent defense against the Tigers. But the Rebels were already down due to their inability to produce offensively. Up until the last few minutes of the first half, Rebels guard Sean Pedulla was kept scoreless. Both he and Dre Davis had 12 points at the end of the day. Overall, both teams had trouble from 3-point range, with Auburn shooting 29 percent and the Rebels shooting 17 percent. Two of Auburn’s three blocks against the deep shot contest gave them the lead in the game. Auburn scored six points off of the Rebels by forcing ten turnovers. Ole Miss turned the ball over three times during the Tigers’ first half surge.

Ole Miss shot 37 percent from the field and was unable to create an offensive identity, despite the fact that the Tigers led the contest with 15 turnovers. Auburn dominates the frontcourt and makes it to the semifinals. With 23 points and 14 rebounds to end the afternoon, Broome tied the program record of 18 double doubles in a season set by former Tiger Mike Mitchell. He was in charge of the Tigers’ frontcourt, which finished with a 37-28 rebounding record and only gave up 26 points from beyond the arc.

Miles Kelly got things going with nine points to end the game after the first half ended without any scores. Chad Baker-Mazara and Pettiford scored 12 points off the bench together, even though they were substituted for Chris Moore in the starting lineup. With 13 points, Jones is the second-leading scorer for the Tigers. The Tigers’ domination down low was aided by the five points scored by Chaney Johnson and Jaheim Hudson combined. On Saturday afternoon, Auburn will play again in the semifinals.

 

 

Not even 24 hours removed from their final game of the 2024-25 season, Auburn women’s basketball remains in the news cycle.

 

On Thursday, Auburn fired head women’s basketball coach Johnnie Harris, according to a release from the university.

 

Harris spent four years with the program, compiling a record of 58-63. Auburn finished the 2024-2025 season 12-18, falling to Florida in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

 

“After a thorough review of our women’s basketball program, I have made the difficult decision that a leadership change is in the best interest of Auburn University,” athletic director John Cohen said in the release. “I thank Johnnie [Harris] for the way she represented Auburn and for her contributions to our women’s basketball program. While these decisions are never easy, the program must move in a new direction.”

 

The release also added that “a national search for a new women’s basketball coach will begin immediately.

 

Auburn was Harris’ first head coaching job, spending time as an assistant at Arkansas-Little Rock, NC State, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Texas. She was at Mississippi State from 2012-2020, where Cohen was the athletic director for part of her duration.

 

While at Auburn, Harris brought the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament once in 2024, the program’s first appearance since 2019. It was also Auburn’s first 20-win season since 2018-2019, highlighted by an upset win over defending national champions LSU.

 

There was optimism for Harris and Auburn to build off that season in 2024-2025, but the Tigers seemed to take a step back.

 

Auburn won just 12 games, the fewest since Harris’s first season in 2021-2022. The Tigers also went a disappointing 3-13 in SEC play, the program’s lowest conference win total since the 2020-2021 campaign, the final season of former coach Terri Williams-Flournoy’s tenure.

 

Injuries ravaged the Tigers in 2024-2025, particularly affecting the offense. Auburn signed standout Arkansas transfer guard Taliah Scott in the offseason, but she only played three games all season due to a wrist injury.

 

Auburn also key guard Kaitlyn Duhon around the midway point of the season. She averaged 7.3 points in eight games, starting 20 games across her three-year career on the Plains.

 

 

 

 

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze greets fans during Tiger Walk before Auburn Tigers take on Vanderbilt Commodores at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze greets fans during Tiger Walk before Auburn Tigers take on Vanderbilt Commodores at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser

Auburn University announced on Friday that Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze was diagnosed with an early form of prostate cancer. A full statement was released on social media channels

 

“Thankfully, it was detected early and his doctors have advised that it is very treatable and curable,” Auburn said in the statement. “He will continue his normal coaching duties and responsibilities, and with forthcoming proper treatment, is expected to make a full recovery.”

 

The Auburn football team is currently undergoing winter workouts in anticipation of spring practice, which is set to begin after Auburn’s spring break on March 25. Freeze laid out a plan in which the Tigers will practice four days per week, including one teaching day. 11 practices are scheduled, and the 12th practice will be the A-Day game on April 12.

 

Following the program’s announcement on Friday, Freeze spoke out for the first time on social media on Sunday morning.

 

“You were made for more!” said Freeze on X, formerly known as Twitter. “God’s spirit has given you power and with that power comes purpose. Our purpose is not to arrive at the gates of heaven unscathed. Our purpose is to pick someone up, to get our hands dirty, to be a shoulder to lean on.

 

“Your purpose IS great, NOT easy! Thank you so much for everyone’s thoughts and prayers.”

 

Freeze is heading into his third season as head coach of the Auburn Tigers. After taking the role in November of 2022, Freeze went 6-7 in his first season on the Plains and followed it up with a 5-7 season last year. He has brought in top-10 recruiting classes two years in a row, and has dominated in -state recruiting over rival Alabama.

 

With a revamped wide receiver room, Freeze and the Tigers are hoping to make significant improvements this season with transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold.

 

Kam Stutts returning to his alma mater, Peyton Cox headed to Mountain East Conference program

 

Across a five-year career at Auburn that spanned the COVID-19 pandemic, included three head coaches and plenty of ups and downs, Kam Stutts nonetheless found a way to become a team captain.

 

Part of Hugh Freeze’s inaugural 2023 Tigers squad, Stutts’s perseverance was something that resonated in the program and resulted in his captaincy that season after he had been a contributor and part-time starter in four previous seasons.

 

Now, the former Auburn starting right guard, is back at his alma mater in a coaching role.

 

Sources tell FootballScoop that Stutts is expected to be named Auburn’s offensive line quality control coach. He’ll work directly with Tigers offensive line coach Jake Thornton, who coached Stutts in 2023 after Hugh Freeze hired Thornton away from Ole Miss.

 

The impending move arrives as another Auburn staffer gets a chance to operate his own room.

 

Sources also share with FootballScoop that Peyton Cox is departing the Plains to become the new offensive line coach at Concord University, an NCAA Division II program that competes in the Mountain East Conference.

 

A former Ole Miss player and letterwinner, Cox had developed from Auburn’s offensive line graduate assistant into the full-time quality control role. He previously coached at FCS Northwestern State.

 

Set for its A-Day spring game April 12, Auburn starts Year 3 of the Freeze era next month when spring camp opens.

 

The Tigers open their 2025 season with a tough, non-conference road game Aug. 30 at Baylor.