2020 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[AUBourne 425]

 

[ellitor 33,096]

 

[fredst 9,064]

3 hours ago, ellitor said:

 

PLEASE..GIVE ME A GUY LIKE THIS TO RUN THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM!!!!! MMMAAAANNN, I LOVE BRUCE PEARL AS OUR COACH!!!!! WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO PLAY FOR THIS GUY???? AMIRIGHT @GwillMac6OR AMIRIGHT? WWWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! LET’S GGGGGOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! WDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GwillMac6 20,684]

1 hour ago, fredst said:

PLEASE..GIVE ME A GUY LIKE THIS TO RUN THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM!!!!! MMMAAAANNN, I LOVE BRUCE PEARL AS OUR COACH!!!!! WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO PLAY FOR THIS GUY???? AMIRIGHT @GwillMac6OR AMIRIGHT? WWWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! LET’S GGGGGOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! WDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen written on this site!!!! BRB!!! Got to re stock on tissues!!!! Hell yah let's go!!!! Wooooooo!!!!! Indeed!!!

[mustache eagle 2,406]

Why is our final 4 coach doing interviews in the basement against a tacky painted cinder block wall?!?!?!

[ellitor 33,096]

18 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

Why is our final 4 coach doing interviews in the basement against a tacky painted cinder block wall?!?!?!

It’s not in the basement. It’s in the makeshift interview room they have for the season after all the construction was done for the locker rooms. The interview room was moved from the southeast side of the arena to the south west side of the arena.

[aubiefifty 16,803]

How Bruce Pearl landed Auburn’s 1st top-10 recruiting class

Updated Nov 20, 2019;Posted Nov 20, 2019

8-9 minutes

Auburn Basketball

Bruce Pearl remembers the first time he encountered Sharife Cooper, though he can’t quite remember where. It was either at McEachern High in Powder Springs, Ga., or at some tournament the diminutive point guard was participating in.

This was back before Cooper was deemed a five-star prospect and regarded as one of the top players in the 2020 class, and before he evolved into the player he is today.

“He was itty bitty, but he was slippery,” Pearl said. “And I looked at him right away and said, ‘There’s the next Jared Harper.’”

Fast forward four years, and Cooper was among three early signees — along with shooting guard Justin Powell and power forward Chris Moore — Auburn officially announced this week, as Pearl constructed the first top-10 recruiting class in program history. With room for two more potential signees, likely a pair of frontcourt players, how did Pearl manage to accomplish something no other Auburn coach had done before him as he continues to revitalize the long-dormant program?

It would be easy to point to Auburn’s recent on-court success, with the Tigers winning an SEC title in each of the last two years and coming fresh off their first Final Four appearance in program history. Pearl conceded that those things help, but being able to put together a class of this caliber goes deeper than that.

Landing this top-10 class was years in the making for Pearl and his coaching staff.

“The common denominator with this group — and I think with our success over the last couple of years in recruiting — has been that we got there early,” Pearl said. “It became real fashionable to recruit Sharife Cooper two years ago. But it wasn’t four years ago when he was very undersized.”

Indeed, Auburn was in on Cooper well before the five-star point guard became the nation’s No. 19 overall prospect and the No. 2 point guard in the class, and before he sprouted into a 6-foot, 160-pounder who is the reigning USA Today National Player of the Year. Although Pearl has been recruiting Cooper for years, it was assistants Ira Bowman and Steven Pearl who were the lead recruiters for the blue-chip guard who has a chance to become Auburn’s first McDonald’s All-American under Pearl and just the third in program history.

The Tigers were the first program to offer Cooper a scholarship back in August 2016. According to 247Sports’ timeline on Cooper, he didn’t receive another offer until FSU extended one in April 2017. Cooper was a longtime Auburn lean, and he finally pulled the trigger with a commitment on Sept. 27 before signing his letter of intent overnight Saturday to officially become the highest-rated signee in program history.

“I remember the family just being very appreciative of the fact that I saw it, too,” Pearl said, referring to Cooper’s potential. “You know, there was no talking me into it. And they stayed really loyal.”

That was a theme throughout this signing class and was certainly the case with Powell, a three-star shooting guard out of North Oldham High in Goshen, Ky. Powell is rated as the No. 153 player in the nation and the country’s 36th-best shooting guard — as well as the No. 2 player in his state — according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Like Cooper, Auburn was one of the first to make inroads with Powell, who first received an offer from Xavier in August 2017 before Pearl extended one less than a month later. Pearl first discovered Powell in a small gym in South Carolina, back when the two-guard was a relative unknown freshman.

“Justin Powell talks about the fact that I chased him and (five-star UNC signee) Walker Kessler around a bunch of remote gyms when they were freshmen and sophomores, and we were one of the very first to offer Justin, and he appreciated that,” Pearl said. “He and his family remembered that.”

Powell committed to Auburn in June, becoming the first commit of the 2020 class for Pearl. The 6-foot-5 deadeye shooter chose the Tigers over the likes of Tennessee, Xavier and Vanderbilt, among others, and Pearl credited his son, Steven Pearl, with getting the job done as Powell’s primary recruiter throughout the process.

Moore was the most recent edition to Auburn’s class, committing on Saturday afternoon before signing shortly thereafter, but he’s another player whom Pearl and his staff recruited for several years. According to Pearl, Auburn was Moore’s first official visit a couple years ago, and his family “fell in love” with the college and town, using it “sort of as that barometer” to compare all other visits to.

Assistant coach Wes Flanigan was most vital to landing Moore, a 6-foot-7, 220-pund power forward out of West Memphis, Ark., who chose the Tigers over Memphis and his home-stat program Arkansas. Flanigan, a former head coach at Arkansas-Little Rock, had a longstanding relationship with Moore and his family, and he was the primary recruiter for the underrated power forward who Pearl described as a “matchup nightmare” — and who many believe will end up rated higher than a three-star when the dust settles on the 2020 cycle.

“Wes Flanigan recruited Chris Moore since — I don’t know,” Pearl said.

What Pearl does know, however, is that the relationships he and his staff established several years ago ultimately paid off, as the Tigers were able to land what should be the most highly regarded recruiting class in program history — at least in the 247Sports era, which dates back to 1999 — even if the class isn’t finished just yet, with two spots remaining for potential frontcourt players.

“While everybody wants to look at the Final Four or the league championships the last couple years and say that’s the reason, well, it really isn’t,” Pearl said. “It’s just good ol’ fashioned hard work, getting in early, grinding and doing your job. That’s what I want to give my assistant coaches credit for. Does it help the fact that we’ve had more success the last couple years with the actual signing of the documents? Yes, it probably does; it probably finishes the job. And for that, I’m grateful to everybody — all our former players and staff and fanbase for helping us, but we’ve had top-25 programs five out of the last six years…. They’ve all probably been between 20 and 25.

“It’s just the area that we kind of hunt. We feel like we can get players in the top-100, 125 players in the country, and then every now and then pick off a Sharife Cooper, pick off a Mustapha Heron, pick off an Austin Wiley.”

So far, that has worked out well for Pearl, who has built a quality program on the Plains in his six seasons and is responsible for signing five of the six highest-rated prospects in program history: Cooper, former five-star Mustapha Heron, current guard/forward Isaac Okoro, Wiley and former star and first-round NBA Draft pick Chuma Okeke.

“It talks a little bit about the journey, but I’m just telling you, Auburn is easy to recruit to,” Pearl said. “And we recruit to Auburn. We recruit to Auburn family, we recruit to community, the excellence in the university. You know we’re a nursing school? We’re an engineering school. We’re a business school. We’re a vet school. We’re a football school. We’re an equestrian school. We’re a baseball school. We’re a golf school. And we’re a decent men’s basketball school.

“And the proof is just in the pudding. We’ve just got to do a good job of identifying them early.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[mustache eagle 2,406]

Good grief - I love Bruce Pearl!

[mustache eagle 2,406]

7 hours ago, ellitor said:

It’s not in the basement. It’s in the makeshift interview room they have for the season after all the construction was done for the locker rooms. The interview room was moved from the northeast side of the arena to the south west side of the arena.

Yes I get all that ... can we buy a printed Auburn backdrop and hang in front of the basement looking cinder blocks ... then, other than the horrible audio, it might be presentable .

[ellitor 33,096]

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

can we buy a printed Auburn backdrop and hang in front

I thought that's how the interview room was done til I saw the video. lol

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

the horrible audio

I heard everything in it fine.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

I dont know what service has our class a top 10, but I feel like we could be in top 5 if Jalen's shoe lands one way 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

8 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I dont know what service has our class a top 10, but I feel like we could be in top 5 if Jalen's shoe lands one way 

Here's a crazy thought, Auburn could end up with about the number 2/3 class in the nation if everything goes right, and they pull in Jalen Green, Greg Brown, and one of Jaylin Williams or Cliff Omoruyi. Really exciting times...

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

2 hours ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Here's a crazy thought, Auburn could end up with about the number 2/3 class in the nation if everything goes right, and they pull in Jalen Green, Greg Brown, and one of Jaylin Williams or Cliff Omoruyi. Really exciting times...

I think one of the latter two is likely, I feel like we’re out of the GB3 sweep stakes but who knows? It could be an all time great class if things do break right though

[ellitor 33,096]

4 hours ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Here's a crazy thought, Auburn could end up with about the number 2/3 class in the nation if everything goes right, and they pull in Jalen Green, Greg Brown, and one of Jaylin Williams or Cliff Omoruyi. Really exciting times...

Odds are long at landing any of them though.

[Tiger 8,827]

Dammit. I want Cliff Omoruyi really bad. Him and Stretch would be a very promising 1-2 punch at C. Athletic, long, bouncy, and can move. We would make life difficult for anyone trying to finish at the rim

[AUBwins 10,075]

On 11/20/2019 at 10:55 PM, fredst said:

PLEASE..GIVE ME A GUY LIKE THIS TO RUN THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM!!!!! MMMAAAANNN, I LOVE BRUCE PEARL AS OUR COACH!!!!! WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO PLAY FOR THIS GUY???? AMIRIGHT @GwillMac6OR AMIRIGHT? WWWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! LET’S GGGGGOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! WDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

On 11/20/2019 at 11:59 PM, GwillMac6 said:

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen written on this site!!!! BRB!!! Got to re stock on tissues!!!! Hell yah let's go!!!! Wooooooo!!!!! Indeed!!!

Some crazy voo doo Ish going on here.  Just looking at the two, you would think @GwillMac6 wrote the top one.  

 

[autan 737]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Odds are long at landing any of them though.

Say we whiff on the top four targets as expected, do you have a guess on the two most likely signees in the spring? Most think we get a small guy 6'-2 or 6'-3  who can play 1 or 2 and a big guy 6'-8+ for 4 and/or 5.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

On 11/22/2019 at 4:07 PM, autan said:

Say we whiff on the top four targets as expected, do you have a guess on the two most likely signees in the spring? Most think we get a small guy 6'-2 or 6'-3  who can play 1 or 2 and a big guy 6'-8+ for 4 and/or 5.

@ellitor could answer better than me but from all the noise I would assume in the scenario that we lose out on all three of Brown, Green, and Omoruyi (Williams committed to Ark today)  our next two signees would be:

Jayden Stone (4* CG) and Rongie Gordon (3* PF). 

Stone has dropped off a little since last season but would probably still be a take for us if we miss out on some guys. Gordon has, IMO, a huge amount of potential but might be a little raw to begin

 

[ellitor 33,096]

On 11/22/2019 at 4:07 PM, autan said:

Say we whiff on the top four targets as expected, do you have a guess on the two most likely signees in the spring? Most think we get a small guy 6'-2 or 6'-3  who can play 1 or 2 and a big guy 6'-8+ for 4 and/or 5.

@autan Nope. If we miss on our top 3 then the staff will continue to evaluate players from the current class as well looking for really good players from the 2021 class who might reclassify to 2020 & sign in April. The staff will also look at the transfer market as well. As for the spots the plan is either 2 bigs or 1 big & 1 guard (likely a 2G). If Okoro is 1 & done as expected by people close to the AU program then there will be 3 spots with the plan then being 2 bigs & 1 guard. On Jayden Stone, I could be wrong but I don't see AU signing him. I think it's more likely we take a transfer or a 2021 high schooler reclassifying to 2020.

[doverstutts 1,643]

On 11/23/2019 at 8:07 PM, tigerbrotha12 said:

Gordon has, IMO, a huge amount of potential but might be a little raw to begin

I watched a little video on him, and while it was limited YT video, it looks like this guy is not a bad backup plan......He can play the game

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

Rongie Gordon and Jalen Green would be an excellent finish to this class.  I think odds are long on Green doe.

[GwillMac6 20,684]

https://247sports.com/Player/Chauncey-Wiggins-46093921/

[GwillMac6 20,684]

 

[GwillMac6 20,684]

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

Man if you like to travel being an Auburn basketball assistant is a dream