Davion Mitchell Transferring

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

He wants to start really all it is. He would be stuck behind Jared for two more years.......don't blame him at all

then why sign with us? He knew Harper was only a SO.

He must have thought he could beat him out by his 2nd year.

[TexasTiger 12,828]

1 minute ago, steeleagle said:

then why sign with us? He knew Harper was only a SO.

He must have thought he could beat him out by his 2nd year.

Pearl thought he would start. Harper stepped up big time.

[boomstick 1,315]

4 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

then why sign with us? He knew Harper was only a SO.

He must have thought he could beat him out by his 2nd year.

Thought he would win the job. Harper made some serious improvements. 

[tigeraddikt 1,597]

5 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

He is our second best perimeter defender besides bryce. He can lock you down. He was going to get a lot better. Him and dunbar are not even in the same league. Davion was going to end up being a star for us. This is a big loss. When him and bryce were in the game together they would totally lock down the other teams guards a lot of times. He had a better freshmen season to me than harper.

I don't believe he had a better frosh season than Harper, but that is just a matter of opinion. Yes, he improved defensively, but we didn't have a lock-down defender on this team. His turnovers and missed FTs did not improve as the season wore on. I wasn't comparing his and Dunbar's ceilings, just that with Doughty waiting in the wings, Mitchell must have seen the writing on the wall re: playing time. I mean, from a purely basketball standpoint, why else would he transfer from a team that will be expected to vie for the SEC grown again and be a likely preseason Top-15 team?

[Mikey 16,565]

Not good news. At Auburn he's just one sprained ankle or three fouls from being out there a lot. Now he won't be playing at all next year. The 19 year-old brain can be a real puzzler.

[bigbird 60,450]

I guess I see this in another light. Competition weeds out the weak. If he was unable or unwilling to compete for the starting position then that's on him. Yes, he gave us some valuable minutes, but he isn't irreplaceable.  This just might be the evidence of the team getting stronger and deeper.  I'm not too upset with the news, but that's just me.

[AU64 10,122]

I note he was averaging 17 minutes a game which is not bad for a freshman and could play either spot out front.....might be more than just playing time.....but weeding out the weak!   I don't see the team being stronger without him.JMO.  

[AUGoo 2,659]

12 hours ago, steeleagle said:

The problem with eventually taking over Harper as heir apparent is that he couldn't take over pg until Harper left and unfortunately Mitchell would be a Senior. 

Just didn't want to wait that long. 

Unless Harper leaves early.

[AU64 10,122]

59 minutes ago, AUGoo said:

  Harper leaves early.

where would  (Harper)  go? .......a good solid PG in the SEC and mostly reliable.......you can't think he is NBA material though.     Sounds like the player at Duke who left at mid season when he was not starting.  Mitchell seemed to have a good future at AU but I don't think he was ever destined to be a major star...JMO.    Not sure who is in those kids' ears ....but good thing that every football player who only plays sparingly his freshman year does not bail out.    

Situations like this are why coaches can rarely have any meaningful depth on a squad...especially at key positions......nobody wants to be the #7 or #8 guy.    . 

[lost 452]

Just now, AU64 said:

where would  he go? .......a good solid PG in the SEC and mostly reliable.......you can't think he is NBA material though.     Sounds like the player at Duke who left at mid season when he was not starting.  Mitchell seemed to have a good future at AU but I don't think he was ever destined to be a major star...JMO.    Not sure who is in those kids' ears ....but good thing that every football player who only plays sparingly his freshman year does not bail out.    

Situations like this are why coaches can rarely have any meaningful depth on a squad...especially at key positions......nobody wants to be the #7 or #8 guy.    . 

I think you have it.   MITCHELL was ranked like #43( wild guess without looking it up) at his position.  He was a high 4 star.  He expects to play.  They all come in "as the best" and can't understand team play.   In every sport it has become ME.  Maybe i am not giving him a fair shake here, but most kids have that mindset.....

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

21 minutes ago, lost said:

I think you have it.   MITCHELL was ranked like #43( wild guess without looking it up) at his position.  He was a high 4 star.  He expects to play.  They all come in "as the best" and can't understand team play.   In every sport it has become ME.  Maybe i am not giving him a fair shake here, but most kids have that mindset.....

I tend to agree with you. Davion would’ve been a big contributor next year. Would be have started? Probably not, but in Pearl’s scheme, does it really matter if you start? His mindset is a little dicey to me. He’ll be a good player somewhere, but he doesn’t have that slasher-scorer mentality. He strikes me as more of a distributor which is a good thing, but will not get him into the NBA at his size. Plenty of guys who can distribute AND create buckets who are bigger. I don’t know if I see him in the NBA, and because of that, it strikes me as odd he would leave a program on the rise that was getting a lot of players back from a tournament team and an sec champion team at that. It’s not like Davion would’ve been in the doghouse next year. His skill as a defender and ball-handler alone would have him out on the floor. I am just more of the opinion that if he would’ve stayed, it would’ve been him and Harper at the one, and Doughty and Bryce at 2. 

[AUGoo 2,659]

49 minutes ago, AU64 said:

where would  (Harper)  go? .......a good solid PG in the SEC and mostly reliable.......you can't think he is NBA material though.     Sounds like the player at Duke who left at mid season when he was not starting.  Mitchell seemed to have a good future at AU but I don't think he was ever destined to be a major star...JMO.    Not sure who is in those kids' ears ....but good thing that every football player who only plays sparingly his freshman year does not bail out.    

Situations like this are why coaches can rarely have any meaningful depth on a squad...especially at key positions......nobody wants to be the #7 or #8 guy.    . 

I thought early on he looked NBAish.  Bit of a slasher to the bucket, good outside shooter, decent on D.  At times I thought he looked Isaiah Thomas like. As season wore them down, i believe he was coached to slow down the O due to depth issues.  Another year in the weight room, I wouldn't be surprised if he put his name in for evaluation by the  NBA next year.

[auburnphan 6,050]

15 hours ago, Tiger said:

This sucks he was going to be a hell of a PG for us down the line. He was just getting his feet wet. With Harper we are going to need a third ball handler IMO because there are just some teams that can take him out of the game due to sheer size and really obstructing his passing angles and ability to get to the basket. Well, now we're down to Samir Doughty and Harper but we are in dire need of a third IMO. This sucks because Davion's ceiling was really high. I have not seen Samir play but I have read he's a combo guard who has a scoring mentality - not quite spot up shooter but scorer. This is a big blow to our immediate trajectory IMO because it really throws the balance of our team off. If we don't have anybody else who can make plays or make everyone else's job easier that is trouble for us. 

Maybe we pick up a grad transfer PG who wants to make a run into March but is ok with not starting? Eh, not likely to find one like that but I'm not sure where we turn from here. Is there a chance we get in late on a HS senior now that Bruce's job seems to be on solid ground? This is bigger than potentially losing Mustapha IMO because Danjel is on the way.

I would not be surprised if we see Okeke or Purifoy bring the ball up the court and move the offense on occasion.  Didn't Bruce do that with Tobias Harris at times at Tennessee?  When Bruce has a full bench he gets creative.   Mitchell will be missed but we will be deep next year.  It does open up a spot for a 2019 point guard that re-opened his recruitment!!

I really think Mitchell could excel in the Big Ten because the officiating lets you play more and doesn't suck like the SEC officials do.

[auburnphan 6,050]

Mustapha Heron‏Verified account @Kingheron5 14h14 hours ago

 

 

Mustapha Heron Retweeted D. Mitch

Great season! One of the hardest workers I know!!! Gave Auburn everything he had and no Davion slander will be tolerated time to keep chasing greatness bro

[boomstick 1,315]

On 3/30/2018 at 10:31 AM, auburnphan said:

I would not be surprised if we see Okeke or Purifoy bring the ball up the court and move the offense on occasion.  Didn't Bruce do that with Tobias Harris at times at Tennessee?  When Bruce has a full bench he gets creative.   Mitchell will be missed but we will be deep next year.  It does open up a spot for a 2019 point guard that re-opened his recruitment!!

I really think Mitchell could excel in the Big Ten because the officiating lets you play more and doesn't suck like the SEC officials do.

If Samir is the backup PG, he’s the solution there as opposed to Purifoy or Chuma. He’s bigger and more physical and can be a playmaker. 

[Tiger 8,818]

57 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

I would not be surprised if we see Okeke or Purifoy bring the ball up the court and move the offense on occasion.  Didn't Bruce do that with Tobias Harris at times at Tennessee?  When Bruce has a full bench he gets creative.   Mitchell will be missed but we will be deep next year.  It does open up a spot for a 2019 point guard that re-opened his recruitment!!

I really think Mitchell could excel in the Big Ten because the officiating lets you play more and doesn't suck like the SEC officials do.

Yeah Tobias Harris played some point forward for Bruce and that would be huge for us if Chuma and Danjel could give us significant minutes handling the ball -- but do they have the skillset? I think I recall Bruce saying he prefers to have his 4 man have the ability to be a point forward in his system.  I'm glad we have Samir in the wings but the prospect of a 6'3 combo guard to compliment both Davion and Harper would've been a perfect IMO,  but not ideal with just 2 PGs. And yes I also was hoping this gives us a shot with Hagans!

I'm going to be pulling for Davion and will probably check out a few of his games in the next few years, I loved his handle and how quick he was, and of course his lateral quickness was great. When the game starts to slow down for him like it did (and still is) for Harper -- watch out!

But I didn't like the quote he said "nobody really knows what's happening next year anyway" from Davion. Not that it reflects poorly on him, but should there be reason for concern? 

[gravejd 3,269]

well this stinks. Really enjoyed watching him play D. Loved how'd he get in the ball handlers face. Seemed to play with an extra level intensity. 

So this takes us from set at the PG position for next year to we really really really need to sign a PG in this class. I hope Pearl can find one at this point that can step in and give minutes next year. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,134]

20 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

He is our second best perimeter defender besides bryce. He can lock you down. He was going to get a lot better. Him and dunbar are not even in the same league. Davion was going to end up being a star for us. This is a big loss. When him and bryce were in the game together they would totally lock down the other teams guards a lot of times. He had a better freshmen season to me than harper.

I agree I think he was better as a freshman than Harper and had a bigger upside.  I believe he thought that Harper was going to stay number 1 and that the new PG was also going to take away from his PT. I think he was wrong and would have gotten a lot more PT this coming year. Here is hoping that Doughty proves to be a heck of a PG.

[TigerOne 1,140]

Harper didn't exactly finish the season on a high note. He seemed preoccupied or something. Anyway Mitchell was fun to watch

and brought it when he was out there. Wish he would stay but thanks and good luck. Get your degree young man.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,649]

Like everyone said he was a better overall guy than harper, but just couldn’t make points happen the same way. That Doughty kid must be getting a lot of love for him to think he couldn’t secede Harper. 

 

Harpers gonna have to really work on his decision making and consistency with this stalwart gone 

[AU64 10,122]

13 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Like everyone said he was a better overall guy than harper, but just couldn’t make points happen the same way. That Doughty kid must be getting a lot of love for him to think he couldn’t secede Harper. 

 

Harpers gonna have to really work on his decision making and consistency with this stalwart gone 

Mostly I think he will need to use better judgment on defense.....committed too many unnecessary fouls and hoping another year of play will get him past the habit of fouling some guy in the backcourt early in a game.      Mitchell will likely do fine where ever he goes. ....just wish he was playing here...

[NoALtiger 3,849]

8 hours ago, TigerOne said:

Harper didn't exactly finish the season on a high note. He seemed preoccupied or something. Anyway Mitchell was fun to watch

and brought it when he was out there. Wish he would stay but thanks and good luck. Get your degree young man.

Ha, did we have anyone finish the season on a good note?

[AU64 10,122]

See that Mitchell committed to Baylor.....a good move for him....will sit out a year.....but this move still makes me wonder why he would take off. 

[GwillMac6 20,658]

27 minutes ago, AU64 said:

See that Mitchell committed to Baylor.....a good move for him....will sit out a year.....but this move still makes me wonder why he would take off. 

really? pretty easy. If he stayed he would of not of started till his senior year behind harper. It is a big loss because I think D Mitch has higher upside than harper. A lot of people myself included thought He would win the starting job over harper this season. If harper could make that leap in 1 offseason of improving his game big time just imagine what d mitch who has more tools to work with can do.

[GwillMac6 20,658]

Also since when did Baylor become Auburn transfer U?! First carlee wallace goes there and now D mitch?! WHAT THE HECK?????