Tiger Tidbits

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Auburn baseball, basketball, football & other Tiger Tidbits

Mark Murphy

11-14 minutes

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Will Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero get selected with No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft?

 

AUBURN, Alabama–Starting with baseball with this being a big opportunity week for the Tigers to position themselves to earn an NCAA regional at Plainsman Park with fifth-ranked Arkansas coming to Auburn for three games beginning on Friday night:

*Auburn’s 31-14 overall record is 10 games better than last season’s record after 45 games when the Tigers were 21-24 overall. The Tigers have also improved their SEC record substantially. After 21 games in 2021 the team was 5-16 in league play compared to this year’s 12-9.

This year’s team also has a better record at this stage of the season than the 2019 Tigers, who won the NCAA regional at Georgia Tech and the super regional at North Carolina to advance to the College World Series. That team was 25-20 after 45 games and was 10-11 after 21 SEC games were played.

*Sonny DiChiara leads the nation in batting average at .436 and is the only Southeastern Conference player topping the .400 mark at this stage of the season. The first baseman’s on-base percentage of .597 makes him the national leader in that category. He leads the SEC in slugging percentage at .842, which ranks third nationally. He leads the SEC in bases on balls with 50, which ranks second nationally.

If DiChiara maintains his current batting average he will set the Auburn single-season record. Here is the AU Top 10 list:

1. Sonny DiChiara .436 (2022)

2. Paul Foster .433 (1985)

3. Jim Pyburn .432 (1954)

4. Gabe Gross .430 (2000)

5. Todd Faulkner .423 (2000)

6. Alan Koch .419 (1959)

7. Joey Martin .417 (1971)

8. Larry Nichols .412 (1962)

9. Jay Waggoner .409 (1994)

10. Scott Pratt .407 (1998)

Sonny DiChiara has been a major addition to the Auburn lineup for the 2022 baseball season. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, Inside the Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

*Blake Rambusch continues to lead the SEC in base hits with 67. As a team the Tigers have 452 hits, which ranks second in the league behind Tennessee’s 478.

*This weekend’s opponent, Arkansas, is the SEC leader in fielding percentage at .985. The Tigers are one of four SEC teams fielding at .979 rate. Winning a series vs. the Razorbacks has been a challenge. Arkansas has won 15 of its previous 17 SEC series.

In basketball:

*One of the newer X factors for college coaches in recruiting high level prospects is competition from professional organizations G League Ignite and Overtime Elite. That looks to be the case with the recruitment of five-star forward Julian Phillips, who is scheduled to make his announcement a week from today. He is considering the pro option as well as playing at the college level. If he decides to go the college route, which is a solid possibility from what he told me, Tennessee looks to be serious competition for Auburn.

*Talking to Walker Kessler, who returned to Auburn yesterday to attend the team’s banquet and awards ceremony, he told me that he has been working on adding weight and muscle while preparing for the NBA Draft. He is currently up to 258 pounds and said he is pleased about that. During his time at Auburn he diligently worked on improving his strength and conditioning.

*On the subject of Auburn players preparing for the NBA Draft, Jabari Smith was also at the event on Wednesday night. As was the case with Kessler, he stayed well after the banquet ended talking with teammates and fans along with posing for photos and signing autographs.

In a new draft report from Sports Illustrated, Smith, the national freshman of the year is projected as the player who should be the first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Jeremy Woo has this analysis:

The case for Smith at No. 1 isn't complicated: he’s arguably the best pure freshman jump shooter to enter the draft in years, he’s an excellent, switchable defender, his intangibles are strong, and he’s the youngest of the draft’s elite prospects by a significant margin. Smith’s jumper is an incredible base on which to stack other offensive skills, and as he expands his array of moves, cleans up his footwork and tightens his handle, his potential is through the roof. He shouldn’t need to waste many dribbles to score efficiently, and can be immediately employed as a pick-and-pop scorer and dangerous floor spacer, at minimum. While Smith didn’t get to the rim a ton in college, part of that had to do with Auburn’s style of play. As he adds strength and physically matures, that should change. He has strong instincts and few bad habits, and as he continues to add to his scoring repertoire, Smith could be a near-impossible cover by the time he hits his prime years. Historically speaking, he'd be a legit No. 1 pick candidate in most drafts. This is not one I’d overthink."

In football:

*With the spring semester ending and no more players entering the transfer portal, if there is no more attrition Bryan Harsin’s second Auburn team will return players on defense who accounted for 54.6 percent of the tackles despite losing the top three guys in that category–senior linebackers Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten along with senior safety Smoke Monday.

Colby Wooden, a 6-5, 284 end, is back for his junior season as the top returning tackler. He made 34 solo stops and 27 assists with 8 1/2 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

*The 2022 defense returns the leader in two categories, Derick Hall, who led the 2021 Tigers in tackles behind the line of scrimmage with 12 1/2 and quarterback sacks with nine.

In softball:

*The Tigers will close the regular season at Tennessee, an opponent that swept a series vs. Auburn last year due to a lack of hitting by an AU squad that lost those contests 2-1, 3-2 and 2-1. This year’s series in Knoxville starts at 5 p.m. CDT on Friday with a game that will be televised on the SEC Network.

With Auburn at 11-10 in the SEC the Tigers need to win twice at Knoxville to finish regular season with a winning record in the conference. Winning twice would also greatly enhance the chance of the Tigers playing an NCAA regional at Jane B. Moore for the first time since the 2017, the last year Clint Myers was head coach. That team finished with a 49-12 record.

Winning twice this weekend would also mean that the Tigers finished the regular season with a winning SEC record for the first time since going 17-7 in 2017. That team won the regional at Jane B. Moore Field and ended the season losing the super regional at Auburn to an Oklahoma team that won the College World Series that year.

*Coach Mickey Dean’s 2022 team has played 50 games and has 39 wins. After 50 games last year the Tigers had posted a 27-23 record. At this point in the season Auburn and Georgia are tied for the most improved teams in SEC play with four more victories than they posted with each team having three more league games to play.

*Sophomore right-handed pitcher Maddie Penta leads the SEC in wins with 23, strikeouts with 231, strikeouts looking with 47, appearances (37), games started (30) and innings pitched (165).

*Sophomore left-handed pitcher Shelby Lowe leads the SEC in saves with five. K.K. Dismukes, a junior right-hander, is the SEC leader for games finished with 16. Both Lowe and Dismukes have dealt with injury issues this season, but have shown signs of returning to form, which could be a big deal for Auburn's postseason potential.

In golf:

*Men’s head coach Nick Clinard said being a No. 3 seed for an NCAA regional was what he was expecting prior to the tournament field being announced on Wednesday evening. The Tigers will be playing on the home course (Jimmie Austin OU Club) of the nation’s overall No. 1 seed, Oklahoma.

“It will be a great test for us,” Clinard said, noting that the two seed in the Norman regional, Texas, has the talent to be a No. 1 regional seed. “We will have to play some great golf because there are four SEC teams there, too, so it is a great field. The guys are excited to go out there and compete.”

The top five teams in the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships that begin May 27th at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Auburn goes into regional play ranked 18th nationally. There are six regionals around the country. Sophomore J.M. Butler and junior Alex Vogelsong are the only two team members who have competed for the Tigers in an NCAA regional.

The path to the NCAA Championship Tournament for the women’s team also goes through the state of Oklahoma. Coach Melissa Luellen’s team, which is ranked 19th nationally, will begin competition on Monday at the Oklahoma State Regional on the Karsten Creek course. Auburn has advanced to the nationals in its last three regional appearances.

In this year’s format the top four teams from each of the six 12-team regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships. Auburn will be one of five ranked teams competing in Stillwater along with No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 17 Baylor and No. 30 Michigan State.

In March the Tigers finished behind Arizona State and Baylor and ahead of California at the Northrop Grumman Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. The Tigers finished ahead of Baylor at the Moon Invitational in Melbourne, Fla. The Tigers finished ahead of Michigan State at the UCF?Challenge during the spring schedule.

Also in the regional field are Clemson, Campbell, Furman, North Carolina State, California, Tulane and Illinois State.

In tennis:

*Tyler Stice, a junior from Atlanta, has earned All-America honors in singles as his team prepares for its opening round match in the NCAA regional on Friday at Winston-Salem, N.C., vs. Texas Tech. Stice and teammates Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett will compete at the nationals that are scheduled from May 23-28 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois following the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 19-22.

McClean, a senior, and junior Murgett reached the national championship finals last year in Orlando where they finished as runnerup. They lost a heartbreaker after what appeared to be a bad call gave that gave the pair from Tennessee a 13-11 win in the tiebreaker. The Auburn duo will take another shot at joining Mark Kovacs and Andy Columbo, who won the title in 2002, as the only NCAA doubles champions in Auburn history.

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*Two members of the women’s team received a bid into the NCAA Tournament with Selin Ovunc in the singles draw and the junior will team with sophomore Ariana Arseneault in doubles. The NCAA women’s championships are also being held at the University of Illinois where the AU women hope to compete as a full squad. Before that happens they must win their own regional that begins at noon CDT at Yarbrough Tennis Center.

With thunderstorms forecast for Friday the Tigers have six indoor courts that can be used if needed as they take on SWAC champion Jackson State at noon at Yarbrough Tennis Center. Auburn is 12-0 in home matches this season.

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