Despite Bruce Pearl recently stepping down, the Auburn Tigers are in good hands with Steven Pearl and are being slept on.<\/p>\n
The Auburn Tigers are coming off an impressive season that saw them make the Final Four. Star player Tahaad Pettiford<\/a> is back for his sophomore season with the Tigers. However, longtime head coach Bruce Pearl made the difficult decision to step down before the start of the season. Steven Pearl, who has been at Auburn since 2017 and spent the last three seasons as the associate head coach, is set to enter his first season as the new head coach.<\/p>\n After Bruce Pearl decided to step down, there was a 30-day window for players to transfer, but no one did so despite the circumstances. This is an indicator that the players are bought in and that Steven Pearl has significant upside as a coach. Even though Pettiford’s return was crucial<\/a>, Auburn has a promising freshman class entering this season.<\/p>\n Auburn will be primarily driven by their transfer class, but the newcomers looked promising in the exhibition with Memphis. Kaden Magwood<\/a> had 15 points against Memphis and should be a reliable scorer for Auburn. He was previously a top-60 recruit for 2025<\/a> and could make an immediate impact. Freshman big man Filip Jovic<\/a> also played well and showed promising physicality. Auburn is replacing significant experienced players from last year’s run, such as Dylan Cardwell<\/a> and All-American Johni Broome.<\/a><\/p>\n Steven Pearl will likely give the freshman class plenty of opportunities, but Auburn is bringing in one of the best transfer classes<\/a> in the country (h\/t 247Sports). Players such as Keyshawn Hall<\/a> and KeShawn Murphy<\/a> are expected to be key contributors right away. Hall was an impactful scorer during his junior season<\/a> and lone year at UCF, averaging 18.8 points per game while also adding 7.1 rebounds. Murphy spent three seasons with Mississippi State and was very productive despite only starting three games. He averaged 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. Murphy is also a very efficient scorer inside the arc.<\/p>\nNo one transferred from the program in the 30-day window<\/h3>\n
Auburn’s transfer portal class is full of upside<\/h3>\n