Auburn Basketball Starting Five Since 2000
In its history, Auburn basketball has made it to 12 NCAA Tournaments; six have come since 2000. That is the history of the program, but it appears Bruce Pearl has the program in the best shape it has ever been. Pearl took over as the Auburn head basketball coach in 2014. He is 187-111 overall as the head coach. If you take away Pearl’s first two seasons at Auburn, years six and seven of consecutive losing record seasons, he is 161-71. Pearl led Auburn to its first-ever Final Four and has been to the last four NCAA Tournaments they have been eligible for (2020 was canceled, and 2021 was self-imposed sanctions). Pearl has also won at least one game in each of his NCAA Tournament appearances at Auburn.
While Auburn is not traditionally thought of as a basketball power, Bruce Pearl seems to be writing a different story with the current state of the basketball program. With that, here is my starting five for Auburn basketball since the 2000 season.
*Note: Players who transferred into the program are included. Players who transferred out of the program are not.
Starting Five
G – Jared Harper (‘16-’19)
Jared Harper brought electricity to the Auburn program. He was also the first in a line of point guards with some extra wiggle to play for Pearl. Harper earned second-team All-SEC honors twice. He finished third in the SEC in assists (5.8) and three-pointers attempted (265) in 2018-19. Prior to Harper arriving on campus, Auburn had seven straight losing seasons; two came under Pearl. He was a part of 74 wins in his three seasons, including twice finishing the year in the top 20.
G – KT Harrell (‘12-’15)
KT Harrell spent his first two seasons at Virginia and transferred for his last two at Auburn. Once at Auburn, Harrell found his groove. The Montgomery, Alabama native averaged 18.4 points on 40.0 percent from three, scoring 1,196 total over his two seasons. His senior year, Harrell let the SEC in scoring while being named second-team All-SEC and first-team All-SEC Tournament.
C – Walker Kessler (‘21-’22)
Walker Kessler spent just one season at Auburn, but that season was enough for Walker Kessler to establish himself as Auburn’s best big since the turn of the century. Kessler won NABC National Defensive Player of the Year while also being named first-team All-SEC and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. His 4.6 blocks per game led the SEC and finished second nationally. Kessler went on to be drafted No. 22 in the 2022 NBA Draft.
F – Jabari Smith (‘21-’22)
Jabari Smith was a huge recruiting win for Bruce Pearl, a top-ten player from Georgia whose dad played at LSU. In his one year on campus, Smith earned first-team All-SEC honors while being named the NABC National Freshman of the Year and a second-team Consensus All-American. Smith went third overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, the highest anyone from Auburn has ever gone.
F – Marquis Daniels (‘99-’03)
Marquis Daniels led Auburn to a Sweet Sixteen his senior year and a one-point loss to eventual National Champion Syracuse. That year Daniels did a little bit of everything for the Tigers. He led the SEC in steals (2.3) and finished second in scoring (18.4). He was also top 15 in rebounds and assists in the league. Daniels won second-team All-SEC that season while also being named to the NCAA Tournament All-Region team. He went on to play ten seasons in the NBA, starting 146 career games.
Sixth Man
G Bryce Brown (‘15-’19)
Bryce Brown was wired to get buckets, and he did that throughout his four years at Auburn. Brown attempted 7.4 threes per game in his career while knocking down 39.2 percent of them. Brown earned first-team All-SEC honors as well as first-team All-SEC Tournament. He was also the 2019 SEC Tournament MVP.
The Bench
G Frankie Sullivan (‘06-’13), Sharife Cooper (‘20-’21), G Adam Harrington (‘99-’02), C Johni Broome (‘22-’24), F Chris Porter (‘98-’00), F Korvotney Barber (‘05-’09), F Chuma Okeke (‘17-’19), F Isaac Okoro (‘19-’20)