Bruce Pearl reveals secret weapon for Auburn next season

The season ended earlier than the Auburn Tigers wanted, losing in the Round of 32 to Miami in the NCAA Tournament. But over the final few games of the season, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was incredibly impressed with the growth he saw from third-year forward Jaylin Williams.

In Auburn’s loss to Miami, Williams played 18 minutes and scored 12 points with four rebounds. He made five of his eight shots from the field and two of his three attempts from three-point range.

Williams saw limited playing time down the stretch as Walker Kessler and Dylan Cardwell held down the center position for Auburn. But in the loss to Miami, Williams saw some time at the five, sparking some serious optimism in Pearl heading into next season.

“Yeah, we just obviously, down like we were, we played — Jaylin wound up playing,” Pearl said. “When Walker got in foul trouble, we started rotating Jaylin at the five. Hadn’t do that much all year, and Jaylin played a lot of it last year. Obviously having the two of them on the floor was good.

“We didn’t do it so much this year because Dylan Cardwell and Walker were so good at the five and so consistent, there really wasn’t much need to, but we were down. So we needed to have them both out there on the floor a little bit. And just in the last five or six minutes Jaylin would have played so well that we just had him up there.”

Pearl is excited to build around Williams at Auburn next season

With Kessler heading to the NBA Draft, Williams is in line for a bigger role at Auburn next season. If there is a positive that came out of Auburn’s early exit in the NCAA Tournament, it was the emergence of Williams. Now, Pearl is looking to build his team next season with Williams as one of the focal points.

“Yeah, man, I’m excited to build it next year around Jaylin,” said Pearl. “We have been the winningest program in the SEC over the last five years. We’ve won three championships in five years. I take great pride in the consistency.”

Williams played sparingly off of the bench as a freshman in the 2019-2020 season before turning into a full-time starter during the 2020-2021 season for Auburn. That year, he averaged 26.4 minutes per game, posting 10.9 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks per contest. This past season, Williams was relegated to the bench with the addition of Kessler, but he still contributed with 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game. Now, he seems poised to get another opportunity to lead the way for the Tigers next season.