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Fran Fraschilla praises Bruce Pearl for reaction to Auburn plane incident

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•11/09/24•

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Bruce Pearl (Photo by Auburn Athletics)
Bruce Pearl (Photo by Auburn Athletics)

Before touching down in Houston for a massive nonconference showdown, Auburn was dealing with a little controversy. Two players, Jahki Howard and Ja’Heim Hudson, were involved in an altercation that caused the plane to turn around. Neither wound up traveling with the team and will not play against the Cougars.

Ahead of the game, ESPN was talking about the situation as color analyst Fran Fraschilla praised head coach Bruce Pearl for how he handled it. Fraschilla believes Auburn has a chance of going far in the NCAA Tournament and these “distractions” can ruin seasons quite quickly.

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“This is a Final Four level team,” Fraschilla said. “When you come from early November to early April, you have to eliminate as many distractions as possible. That was a distraction yesterday. Bruce Pearl dealt with it, both young men are home.

“They could be key parts of this season going forward. But he did the right thing… The team comes first and hopefully, both young men will learn from this. Kudos to Bruce Pearl for dealing with it head-on.”

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Howard is a freshman forward who was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 70 overall player in the country in the class of 2024, per the On3 Industry rankings. He played 20 minutes off the bench in Saturday’s 94-43 win over Vermont, scoring 7 points and grabbing 4 rebounds.

Hudson transferred to Auburn this offseason after spending last year at SMU. He played 15 minutes and had 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the Auburn opener vs. Vermont.

On3’s Justin Hokanson has more details on the fight here.

Building a tougher nonconference schedule was a big goal for Pearl this year and mission accomplished by getting someone like Houston. Now, they are down a couple of guys going into the game. Neither are considered to be a huge part of the rotation but depth at this time of year is important.

Auburn will be hoping the distraction is not too big and can get a win Saturday night.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report