2021 5* UNC Transfer C Walker Kessler (4/12/21: Commits To AU!)

[gravejd 3,267]

Until things stabilize with our roster and college basketball in general i am no longer looking beyond next years team. Stock pile as much talent as possible every single year and then worry about next year later. I used to be concerned about playing time and guys sticking around to form chemistry but there is no point in wasting energy with it. Guys come and go for any number of reasons and getting playing time is just one and probably not even the main reason a guy chooses a team any longer. 

I hope we have less roster movement as time goes on but i'm not counting on it. It's the way the sport appears to be heading atm so may as well go with it. 

[toddc 13,194]

Inside Walker Kessler's decision to transfer to Auburn

Jeffrey Lee • AuburnSports

Senior Editor

@JLeeAURivals

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When 

Walker Kessler announced on Tuesday plans to transfer from North Carolina to Auburn, many in the basketball world were surprised.

And why wouldn’t they be?

Less than a year earlier, Kessler, a 5-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American from Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., had chosen the Tarheels over the Tigers. 

Kessler was set to play in Chapel Hill, and for the 2020-21 season, he did.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The world transitioned, as did Kessler.

After playing in all 29 games a true freshman, Kessler wanted a change. He wanted something new and, most importantly, he wanted it to be closer to home.

“I think that played a major part,” Austin Ewing, who is a close friend of the Kesslers, said. “Walker wanted to not only be closer to home, but be able to share in the experience of playing college basketball with his family who are at home.”

Walker Kessler will report to Auburn in May with four years of eligiblity. (goheels.com)

Ewing would know. He’s a mentor to Kessler. He’s trained Kessler since Kessler was in the fifth grade. Ewing has been by Kessler’s side throughout his recruitments, both out of high school and the transfer portal.

Ewing knew Kessler wanted to leave North Carolina and be closer to home. He knew Kessler loved Auburn and Auburn loved Kessler.

Ewing didn’t know, however, if Auburn would be the best fit.

“One of the positives for Walker and Auburn was his relationships from the first time around,” Ewing said. “Coach (Bruce) Pearl and his staff have been recruiting Walker since the ninth grade. Pearl was one of the first people to not only believe in him, but also offer him a scholarship. So when Pearl started recruiting Walker again out of the transfer portal, Walker already was very comfortable with that relationship.”

But whether or not Auburn was the right fit schematically was a different story.

“For the longest, one of the biggest concerns with Auburn was style of play,” Ewing said. “Coach Pearl had never had a player over 7-feet at any of the schools he’d been at, not a guy with Walker’s abilities to step out on the perimeter. Pearl has been the architect of small ball. He runs a 4-out 1-in system, so we thought Walker would be relegated to just being under the basket.”

N/A

 24 

NATL

 

-

 

ST

 5 

POS

WALKER

KESSLER

SIGNED LOI

9/22/2019

NORTH CAROLINA

7'0" | 235 LBS | C | 2020

WOODWARD ACADEMY

COLLEGE PARK, GA

For that reason, Ewing initially didn’t believe Kessler would transfer to Auburn. Kessler had other options, including national runner-up Gonzaga. Kessler also could return to North Carolina under new coach Hubert Davis.

Either of the two sounded better than Auburn, at least that's what Ewing thought.

Then Pearl stepped in. 

Not Bruce. Steven.

Steven Pearl, the son of Bruce and assistant coach at Auburn, put together a presentation for Kessler. Steven Pearl wanted Kessler to see Auburn’s plans and how he would be utilized in Auburn’s offense. 

The presentation was presented last week over a Zoom call. It would be what changed the course of Kessler’s recruitment. 

“The Zoom call really changed things,” Ewing said. “We were blown away. Steven blew us away. After the meeting I joked with Steven about how his head coaching debut is coming if he’s not lying in wait for his father’s job. When it comes to analytics, data, research, strategy, he is really, really high level. He has a ton of respect from me. 

“I’ve been blessed to be involved in Walker’s recruitment process and been able to meet some extraordinary people, men and coaches, and Steven is definitely up there with the best of them. The analytics, the identification, the presentation, he was very integral in the presentation and very integral in Walker choosing Auburn.”

So what was it about the presentation that was so impressive, impressive enough to change Kessler’s recruitment?

“They run a 4-out 1-in system, but they have the ability to interchange at any given moment,” Ewing said. “That is a matchup problem and a matchup nightmare for the defense given the bigs Auburn will have on its roster next year.”

N/A

 5 

NATL

 

-

 

ST

 3 

POS

JABARI

SMITH

SIGNED LOI

10/9/2020

AUBURN

6'9" | 210 LBS | PF | 2021

SANDY CREEK

TYRONE, GA

That includes 5-star McDonald’s All-American 

Jabari Smith, who signed with Auburn in November. Smith and Kessler could interchange from post to perimeter creating mismatches.

“Having Jabari is big for Walker,” Ewing said. “It’s important that Walker have someone who can be interchangeable to that low spot. If you don’t have an interchangeable guy, Walker is never going to see the perimeter.”

And Kessler needs to see the perimeter. He’s a big guy, yes, but he’s also athletic and can shoot from the outside. Having a guy like Smith provides a guy like Kessler the ability to showcase his full talents.

“If Walker and Jabari are on the floor at the same time and Walker is down low and has a 7-foot slow-footed guy on him, they can change and Walker is now on the perimeter and Jabari is now on the interior,” Ewing said. “It is very important to have that on the roster and Jabari is that guy at Auburn. Him being there is huge. With Jabari there’s no possibility with the shooters that Auburn will always have on the perimeter that you can double. 

“Defenses won’t be able to double down and that’s when the matchup can be exploited. That’s the NBA. You identify the matchup and exploit. It is going to be very hard to guard. That’s Auburn’s offense.”

And now Kessler will be part of it.

 

I hope this isn’t old news. It’s a really good take on Kessler transfer reasons and why Stephen Pearl was the difference!

[AUBwins 10,064]

Great read. Thank you for adding. 

[CameronCrazy 1,056]

I hope Steven Pearl can pick up right where his dad left off when the time comes.

[AUBwins 10,064]

54 minutes ago, CameronCrazy said:

I hope Steven Pearl can pick up right where his dad left off when the time comes.

And rename the Arena the House of Pearl!

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

THAT is why I thought the women’s basketball should’ve given the guy a look over 

he’s a hell of a mind

[bigbird 60,368]

12 hours ago, toddc said:

After the meeting I joked with Steven about how his head coaching debut is coming if he’s not lying in wait for his father’s job.

I'd love to coach with my dad. There's no way I'd be in a hurry to fill a HC role.  I hope SP does fill in after Bruce picks up his broadcast career.

[bigbird 60,368]

21 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I'd love to coach with my dad. There's no way I'd be in a hurry to fill a HC role.  I hope SP does fill in after Bruce picks up his broadcast career.

Better yet!

After Bruce is hired as the new athletic director!

[Rednilla 5,383]

21 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Better yet!

After Bruce is hired as the new athletic director!

I could dig either one of those moves. Bruce certainly has the charisma to carry either one...but I kinda like Greene, and we're in dire need of a radio guy...LOL

[augolf1716 21,094]

 

 

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Better yet!

After Bruce is hired as the new athletic director!

Talking to yourself again

[gravejd 3,267]

I'd love for Steven to be the head coach at AU AFTER he has at least 5-10 years experience of being the head coach somewhere. I hope Pearls success here has proven you can win at the highest level while being the basketball coach at Auburn. And this will now be a job that coaches actually seek out. 

[JFDTiger80 790]

If you read through everything you can find on Kessler since he went in the portal, it is obvious this kid is the real deal. With Covid and being a true freshmen, it took a while for Kessler to crack the lineup with Carolina already having other bigs that were more experienced. Once he got playing time Kessler showed out. 

I can't wait to watch us next year. If we stay healthy, we are going to be more than a handful once the team is comfortable playing together. 

We do need Scoot to commit and reclassify and grab one more talented guard.

[ellitor 33,062]

On 4/14/2021 at 10:27 PM, AURex said:

Okay, all the way back to the OP, the guy has a hundred options for top teams. I WANT to believe he will actually come to AU.

BUT there's a long way to go and ya know, and as the old saying goes -- "If Candy & Nuts were and and & nuts ....

 

@AURex He is committed to AU & plans to enroll this Summer. Also as others have pointed out there are rarely flips in college basketball barring coaching changes at the committed school. You can relax on this one.

[1auburn1 1,110]

13 hours ago, AUBwins said:

And rename the Arena the House of Pearl!

Would that make the entrance The Pearly Gates??

[gravejd 3,267]

23 minutes ago, JFDTiger80 said:

If you read through everything you can find on Kessler since he went in the portal, it is obvious this kid is the real deal. With Covid and being a true freshmen, it took a while for Kessler to crack the lineup with Carolina already having other bigs that were more experienced. Once he got playing time Kessler showed out. 

I can't wait to watch us next year. If we stay healthy, we are going to be more than a handful once the team is comfortable playing together. 

We do need Scoot to commit and reclassify and grab one more talented guard.

I was super impressed with the UNC highlights i saw of him. Very active and moves very well for a 7 footer. I love the idea of having him and Jabari being interchangeable under the basket and out on the perimeter. We'll be able to pick and roll and pick and pop all day long with both of those guys in the lineup. If we can put some consistent shooting threats out there at the guard positions then look out. Also gotta have those 2 transfer PGs ready to play at a high level. It'll help a ton both of them already coming in with a good bit of experience playing at the college level. 

[Leftfield 2,583]

13 hours ago, AUBwins said:

And rename the Arena the House of Pearl!

I think we should call it The Oyster.

[JFDTiger80 790]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

I was super impressed with the UNC highlights i saw of him. Very active and moves very well for a 7 footer. I love the idea of having him and Jabari being interchangeable under the basket and out on the perimeter. We'll be able to pick and roll and pick and pop all day long with both of those guys in the lineup. If we can put some consistent shooting threats out there at the guard positions then look out. Also gotta have those 2 transfer PGs ready to play at a high level. It'll help a ton both of them already coming in with a good bit of experience playing at the college level. 

I agree with all this, plus even when a big goes outside, we should still have a great rebound game. 

AU will have one of the biggest starting lineups in the NCAA. Plus, these guys are not just big, they are talented. 2 of the 3 were 5 stars and 1 was a 4 star. Giant, talented guys. Schools will not be wanting to play us. I would expect us to go against several 3 guard lineups, which could make things interesting.

[ellitor 33,062]

A heads up for @aubiefifty. Just wanted to let you know I deleted your thread because the article you posted is already in this Kessler thread right here…

 

[aubiefifty 16,676]

this is why i do not like different articles buried in one thread. i am not going to go through each thread to see if anyone posted the article. it is not like the board is snowed under and when you do things that make it harder to post with out spending half your time on the fam seeing if an article has already been posted before you post something.... does this make any sense to you? it wastes time and it in its self by hunting for the article it discourages folks from posting. i do not get it. i get no money nor glory for posting articles. i am not a mod. but i have been told a couple of times by red he appreciates what i do for the board. i might ask red and the mods what can be done to fix this. i went and looked for articles. i found article i want to post. so i go to fam  and look through the titles of threads to see if it has already been posted. no title. so i go back to the other site and copy and then come back and post it. that is a lot of wasted time. do you get what i am saying? once he sign he is not a recruit anymore right? i am not trying to be a jerk but i wasted a lot of time trying to help the basketball folks out only to get my time wasted. plus i screw up enough on my own as it is. it is very frustrating.

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

Practicing against the best improves your game. The player who I think will be helped the most long run is Cardwell. Every day in  practice he will go up against Kessler and Jabari. That will automatically improve his defense and he will also pick up some O from them.. Cardwell actually does a good job of sealing his opponent and putting his hand up to show he is ready for an entry pass. Currently our guards don't pass to him because he hasn't shown a down low game once they have two players who do have a down low game it will become more natural to pass down low.

I think by the end of next year we will see a much improved Cardwell.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

2 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

this is why i do not like different articles buried in one thread. i am not going to go through each thread to see if anyone posted the article. it is not like the board is snowed under and when you do things that make it harder to post with out spending half your time on the fam seeing if an article has already been posted before you post something.... does this make any sense to you? it wastes time and it in its self by hunting for the article it discourages folks from posting. i do not get it. i get no money nor glory for posting articles. i am not a mod. but i have been told a couple of times by red he appreciates what i do for the board. i might ask red and the mods what can be done to fix this. i went and looked for articles. i found article i want to post. so i go to fam  and look through the titles of threads to see if it has already been posted. no title. so i go back to the other site and copy and then come back and post it. that is a lot of wasted time. do you get what i am saying? once he sign he is not a recruit anymore right? i am not trying to be a jerk but i wasted a lot of time trying to help the basketball folks out only to get my time wasted. plus i screw up enough on my own as it is. it is very frustrating.

I think what you do adds a ton of conversation, but I’d hope for a middle ground between making a new thread for literally every article made and multiple articles in one thread 

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

(If we’re also on the topic of conversation, I’d wish that there was an indicator in the title that those threads that are only an article copy-paste was just that)

[aubiefifty 16,676]

5 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

(If we’re also on the topic of conversation, I’d wish that there was an indicator in the title that those threads that are only an article copy-paste was just that)

the last thing i want to do is mess up the board. i might just kick back and let the big boys do it. i get upset enough with myself double posting when i miss an article on at least page one.i guess it is the getting old and watching yourself slip. i guess i will smoke on and save the worl of skyrim for a while.

[Jgarrett7 957]

45 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

the last thing i want to do is mess up the board. i might just kick back and let the big boys do it. i get upset enough with myself double posting when i miss an article on at least page one.i guess it is the getting old and watching yourself slip. i guess i will smoke on and save the worl of skyrim for a while.

Man don’t get down on yourself for trying to add content. I mean there is one thread with nothing but burger nonsense. At least the articles you bring add actual substance to the board.

[fredst 9,064]

3 minutes ago, Jgarrett7 said:

50 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

the last thing i want to do is mess up the board. i might just kick back and let the big boys do it. i get upset enough with myself double posting when i miss an article on at least page one.i guess it is the getting old and watching yourself slip. i guess i will smoke on and save the worl of skyrim for a while.

Man don’t get down on yourself for trying to add content. I mean there is one thread with nothing but burger nonsense. At least the articles you bring add actual substance to the board.

@aubiefifty, if you could post an article about burgers that would be a huge value-add. Like real, objective burger content....