Bruce Pearl, 'Jabari-less' Auburn basketball start practice

AUBURN – It’s basketball season again. It’s still a surreal feeling writing that knowing how good the Tigers’ program has become and how much interest there is in Auburn basketball. The university will never not be a football school, but it’s as close to being a basketball school at this very moment as it’s ever been, and might ever will be.

Bruce Pearl met with media on Tuesday to talk briefly about his new-look team. Pearl led with some unfortunate news regarding Allen Flanigan’s absence from the team.

But other than that, it’s full speed ahead for a new group of Tigers looking to defend their SEC championship from one season ago.

“I love my depth. I like the chemistry, I like the work ethic. We had a a great summer,” Pearl said.

Because of the foreign tour to Israel, Auburn received a bit of a head start in terms of practice time as the players were allotted 10 practices to prepare for the tour. From all accounts, the trip to Israel was successful. Auburn won their first two exhibitions before falling in the final exhibition to the Israeli national team, but it was competitive. More importantly, the team and coaches experienced the trip of a lifetime.

Before last season, Pearl didn’t hesitate to say his team was capable of making a Final Four run. And for part of the season, Auburn was the best basketball team in the nation. The Tigers reached a No. 1 AP ranking for the first time in school history.

“It’s interesting. I felt like last season, while there was a period we were the best team in college basketball, I’m thinking every game we played last year, for the first time in my career, I think I had the better team,” Pearl said. “That’s never happened before, and they played like it for the most part.”

‘Jabari-less’ and new-look front court

All-American and future No. 3 overall NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith was the main reason behind that feeling. All-American and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Walker Kessler, the Tigers’ best single-season shot blocker (155) and future No. 22 overall NBA Draft pick, was another huge reason for that confidence.

This team will be similar, but very different.

“Now, we’re Jabari-less. The question is, have the returning players improved enough for us to be able to compete for the SEC Championship?” Pearl said.

Out goes Smith and Kessler, in comes Morehead State transfer Johni Broome and true freshman Yohan Traore. Broome was one of the nation’s most sought-after transfers, while Traore signed with Auburn after backing away from his previous decision to commit to LSU. The two forwards, along with veterans Dylan Cardwell and Jaylin Williams, have to try and match the production from Smith and Kessler a year ago.

“They’re going to get a lot of minutes that Walker and Jabari got,” Pearl said.

Williams and Traore are competing for the starting position at “power forward,” if you will.

“‘Yo’ isn’t as skilled as Jabari, but he’s a little bigger and he’s very athletic,” Pearl said. “Whoever I put on the floor at that position will be pretty good. Jaylin has that opportunity to make that decision for himself. We have to let these guys compete a little bit.”

Broome is expected to be Auburn’s starting “center,” with Cardwell backing him up and playing a critical role in the Tigers’ success. Veteran Chris Moore will play a reserve role at forward as well.

‘Wen’ leads experienced backcourt

While the front court will look and feel different, the backcourt will be the same high-energy, frenetic group led by Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper. Joining that trio are two true freshmen in Chance Westry and Tre Donaldson.

“Wendell had one of the more underrated years last year in college basketball,” Pearl said. “Now the question is, will he really lead our team? You can see a different level of confidence with Wendell.”

Green Jr. will be looking to improve on his 12-point, five-assist per game average from a year ago.

There’s the menace, K.D. Johnson, who has recorded nearly two steals per game his first two seasons of college basketball at Georgia and Auburn.

“K.D.,” Pearl said laughing, “he made so much progress on and off the court last year — physically, he’s lost some weight, faster, quicker, his practice habits have improved, so he’s positioning himself to have a big year.”

And then there’s Mr. Consistent, Zep Jasper, who brings an unrelenting defensive pressure, but could bring slightly more offensive aggression to his game this season.

“Zep is Zep. He’s going to bring it every day,” Pearl said. “Zep shoots a beautiful ball, and we’ve gotten him to expand his range a little bit.”

Auburn’s 2022-23 basketball schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV	Radio	Tournament	Result
August 2, 2022 (Tuesday)	Noon (CT)	Neutral	Israel U-20 National Team	Malha Arena – Jerusalem, Israel			Birthright for College Basketball	W, 117-56
August 7, 2022 (Sunday)	Noon (CT)	Neutral	Israel All-Star Select Team	Hader Yosef Gym – North Tel Aviv, Israel			Birthright for College Basketball	W, 107-71
August 8, 2022 (Monday)	12:30 p.m. (CT)	Neutral	Israel National Team	Menora Mivtachim Arena – Tel Aviv, Israel			Birthright for College Basketball	L, 86-95
November 2, 2022 (Wednesday)	TBA	Home	UAH (exh.)	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
November 7, 2022 (Monday)	TBA	Home	George Mason	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
November 11, 2022 (Friday)	TBA	Home	USF	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
November 15, 2022 (Tuesday)	TBA	Home	Winthrop	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
November 18, 2022 (Friday)	TBA	Home	Texas Southern	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
November 22, 2022 (Tuesday)	5:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM ET	Neutral	Bradley	Cancun, Mexico	CBS Sports Network		Cancun Challenge
November 23, 2022 (Wednesday)	5:00 PM or 7:30 PM CT / 6:00 PM or 8:30 PM ET	Neutral	Northwestern or Liberty	Cancun, Mexico	CBS Sports Network		Cancun Challenge
November 27, 2022 (Sunday)	TBA	Home	Saint Louis	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
December 2, 2022 (Friday)	TBA	Home	Colgate	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
December 10, 2022 (Saturday)	4:00 PM CT / 5:00 PM ET	Neutral	Memphis	Atlanta, Ga. – State Farm Arena	ESPN2		Holiday Hoopsgiving
December 14, 2022 (Wednesday)	TBA	Home	Georgia State	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball
December 18, 2022 (Sunday)	TBA	Away	USC	Los Angeles, Calif.
December 21, 2022 (Wednesday)	TBA	Away	Washington	Seattle, Wash.
December 28, 2022 (Wednesday)	6:00 PM	Home	Florida	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	ESPN2
January 4, 2023 (Wednesday)	5:30 PM CT / 6:30 PM ET	Away	Georgia	Athens, Ga.	SEC Network
January 7, 2023 (Saturday)	7:30 PM	Home	Arkansas	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	SEC Network
January 10, 2023 (Tuesday)	8:00 PM	Away	Ole Miss	Oxford, Miss	ESPN2/ESPNU
January 14, 2023 (Saturday)	7:30 PM	Home	Mississippi State	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	SEC Network
January 18, 2023 (Wednesday)	6:00 PM	Away	LSU	Baton Rouge, La.	ESPN2/ESPNU
January 21, 2023 (Saturday)	2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET	Away	South Carolina	Columbia, S.C.	SEC Network
January 25, 2023 (Wednesday)	8:00 PM	Home	Texas A&M	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	ESPN2/ESPNU
January 28, 2023 (Saturday)	11:00 AM CT / Noon ET	Away	West Virginia	Morgantown, W.Va.	ESPN/ESPN2		Big 12/SEC Challenge
February 1, 2023 (Wednesday)	6:00 PM	Home	Georgia	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	SEC Network
February 4, 2023 (Saturday)	1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM ET	Away	Tennessee	Knoxville, Tenn.	ESPN/ESPN2
February 7, 2023 (Tuesday)	6:00 PM	Away	Texas A&M	College Station, Texas	ESPN/ESPN2
February 11, 2023 (Saturday)	1:00 PM	Home	Alabama	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	ESPN/ESPN2
February 14, 2023 (Tuesday)	6:00 PM	Home	Missouri	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
February 18, 2023 (Saturday)	7:30 PM	Away	Vanderbilt	Nashville, Tenn.	SEC Network
February 22, 2023 (Wednesday)	8:00 PM	Home	Ole Miss	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	SEC Network
February 25, 2023 (Saturday)	3:00 PM CT / 4:00 PM ET	Away	Kentucky	Lexington, Ky.	CBS
March 1, 2023 (Wednesday)	6:00 PM	Away	Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	ESPN2/ESPNU
March 4, 2023 (Saturday)	3:00 PM	Home	Tennessee	Auburn, Ala. / Neville Arena – Basketball	ESPN/ESPN2
March 8, 2023 (Wednesday)		Neutral	TBA	Nashville, Tenn.			SEC Tournament