Bruce Pearl and co. producing successful results in JUCO, transfer evaluations

AUBURN -- Bruce Pearl and his staff pride themselves on good player evaluations, whether that's from the junior college ranks or now, the transfer portal. In the new world of college basketball, evaluating and getting transfers right is a must. Not just junior college, but transfer new additions are the norm now, and Pearl and co. have been productive in bringing in valuable pieces that contribute to championships and wins over the years. "As it relates to transfer decisions, the best way to evaluate whether someone is going to be successful in your program is to watch them against the best competition," Pearl said this week, following his team's 3-0 start in league play. "We’ve made transfer evaluation decisions based on really good film study, not watching necessarily an AAU tournament or certainly not watching their high school, where the competition is so different. "My staff has done a really good job of making some of those evaluation decisions. I don’t think we’ve gotten one wrong in three or four years, that’s hard to do." More from Pearl inside on Auburn's JUCO and transfer portal success...