'The pieces have come together nicely': Bruce Pearl proud of his SEC-title Auburn team

In the modern age of college basketball, there’s no telling what a team might look like or how they might perform year to year. Between NIL, transfer portal, creating cohesion season to season is difficult. It’s why Bruce Pearl wasn’t sure what this Auburn team would look like this season.

Johni Broome, Denver Jones, Chris Moore, Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson and Chad Baker-Mazara all returned. That was a good foundation. Broome considered the NBA after impressive combine showings, and there were other high-profile programs trying to lure Broome away, but he chose to stay. Baker-Mazara was also pursued by other programs behind the scenes, but again, chose to stay.

Gone were Jaylin Williams, KD Johnson, Tre Donaldson and Aden Holloway. Williams to the professional ranks, Johnson to George Mason, Donaldson to Michigan and Holloway to Alabama.

Then, there’s the process of infusing new players like Miles Kelly, Tahaad Pettiford, Ja’Heim Hudson, Jahki Howard and JP Pegues into a new-look Tigers’ team. Kelly had plenty of suitors when leaving Georgia Tech, choosing Auburn over Miami in the end. Pettiford was a McDonald’s All-American, with Howard arriving as an elite prospect, and Pegues leaving Furman and choosing Auburn over Florida.

“I had no expectations that this team would be this good,” Pearl said after Auburn’s 16-point win at Kentucky.

Well, Auburn is that good.

‘WE PLAYED LIKE CHAMPIONS’: PEARL REACTS TO AUBURN’S WIN AT KENTUCKY

Auburn has 16 Quad I wins (most in SEC regular season history), 10 wins against AP Top 25 teams before conference tournament play (second-most in Division I history), and has tied the 2021-22 team for the most regular season wins (27) and most SEC wins (15). The Tigers have also been No. 1 for what will now be a program-record eight-straight weeks.

“I think one of the things about putting the roster together, sometimes less is more. I have 12 guys on scholarship, not 13, because I can’t keep 13 guys happy. And I have one player that’s on scholarship knowing that he was going to be in practice all year, which gets us down to 11. The risk you run is injury, but taking that risk, my guys are almost always playing,” Pearl said, as he pointed towards the attitudes of his big men that helped lead the way.

“I told Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson, I’m empowering you guys. We’re going to make this big lineup work. They were all seniors, they had all paid their dues, they had all earned the right for me to not bring a big-time player over their head. That was when the chemistry was built and guess what? Those guys appreciated it and trusted us.”

RAPID REACTION: NO. 1 AUBURN 94, NO. 17 KENTUCKY 78

Broome, of course, is up for National Player of the Year, competing against Duke’s Cooper Flagg for the award at this point. Broome is sitting on 17 double-doubles for the season, one shy of an Auburn single-season record. Cardwell watched his minutes rise this season and notched his first two double-doubles of his career. And Johnson has scored in double figures in six of Auburn’s last eight games, earning the moniker of the “hardest worker on the team,” according to Pearl.

Baker-Mazara’s value is Auburn’s Swiss-Army knife, able to contribute in a wide variety of ways. Moore is a steady rock off the bench and the team’s best communicator. Then there’s Jones, who moved to point guard, is playing somewhat out of position, but has been extremely good in leading the most efficient offense in college basketball.

“Denver Jones was at Florida International. Chad Baker was in junior college. He might be the most valuable player because I can put the ball in his hands, he can shoot, he can score, get it to everybody. Chaney was Division II. Miles Kelly won his first championship in his life,” Pearl said.

Talent will only take you so far. Pearl knows that. It’s why his approach to coaching and molding a team together, yet again, is paying dividends. For the fifth time among Pearl’s last seven Auburn teams, either a SEC regular season or tournament championship has been won. (The 2019-20 team didn’t get the chance to play in the SEC Tournament due to Covid cancelling the event.)

“There are still great stories about kids that want to be coached, they want to be held accountable,” Pearl said. “I want my kids to feel they’re loved. But when they do behave selfishly or they do behave in such a way that God’s not going to bless it or it’s going to bring the team down, we call it out.”

Through all the change, Pearl and Co. can be nothing but pleased with what’s transpired to date.

“The pieces have come together nicely.”