Auburn builds frontcourt depth

[aubiefifty 17,098]

al.com

With addition of former SMU F Ja’Heim Hudson, Auburn builds frontcourt depth

Published: May. 17, 2024, 8:29 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Georgia State forward Ja'Heim Hudson (15) lays in a basket as Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

SMU transfer forward Ja’Heim Hudson committed to Auburn on Friday night according to a post on his Instagram account, an addition that gives Auburn some long-sought frontcourt depth this offseason.

Hudson visited Auburn on May 15 and after several attempts to find a forward didn’t pan out, Hudson wound up as the swing Auburn finally connected on. Auburn reportedly held visits with Texas forward Dillon Mitchell who committed to Cincinnati earlier Friday and several recruiting outlets reported Auburn was supposed to have a visit with Clemson transfer forward R.J. Godfrey before he canceled it and quickly committed to Georgia. Auburn also reportedly had a call with Samford transfer forward Achor Achor, but never got him for an on-campus visit.

Auburn’s pitch is a bit complicated. There isn’t a clear path to starters’ minutes for any forward addition. Auburn brought back Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson. The only major frontcourt piece Auburn lost was Jaylin Williams, the winningest player in Auburn’s program history who exhausted his eligibility.

All three big men on Auburn’s roster before Hudson’s addition were going to play, and whoever came in to take the scholarship spot left by Williams was going to be part of a rotation.

In an age where players hit the transfer portal often looking for more playing time, Auburn is selling the opposite. Head coach Bruce Pearl proved that could work in an SEC Tournament title-winning season with a team that was truly 10-deep. Whether next year’s team will be the same is unclear, but it remains a general model.

Hudson, a Georgia native, came off the bench for SMU last season, his only year there after transferring from Georgia State.

Hudson entered the portal on May 1, after SMU hired former USC coach Andy Enfield to lead its team. Enfield’s departure from Los Angeles started a chain where Eric Musselman left the head coach job at Arkansas to go to USC and Arkansas lured John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas.

In his one year at SMU, Hudson played 15.2 minutes per game and scored 5.4 points per game. He played in 31 games and started one.

He started 34 games in the previous two seasons at Georgia State, including scoring 10.1 points per game as a sophomore in the 2022-23 season. Hudson will have one remaining year of eligibility.

Hudson and Georgia State played Auburn in the 2022-23 season at Neville Arena. Hudson scored eight points in that game and had 11 rebounds.

Hudson is Auburn’s second major transfer portal addition following Furman transfer guard JP Pegues. Auburn’s only other incoming forward at this point is freshman Jahki Howard.

Auburn has two remaining scholarships open, but is probably likely to only fill one of them. The second was vacated by Carter Sobera, a walk-on who earned a scholarship midway through last season.

For the spot Auburn will fill, it’s likely to do so with a guard. Auburn lost three top guards from last year’s team and has only brought in two thus far.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

[AUGoo 2,666]

Getting kind of late on that bringing in a guard thing.

[AUSCalum87 365]

4 minutes ago, AUGoo said:

Getting kind of late on that bringing in a guard thing.

It’s going to be someone who will be just a depth piece, don’t get your hopes up. As I stated, it will probably go to someone who plays intramural basketball at Auburn 😂😂😂

[PUB78 1,365]

8 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

al.com

With addition of former SMU F Ja’Heim Hudson, Auburn builds frontcourt depth

Published: May. 17, 2024, 8:29 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Georgia State forward Ja'Heim Hudson (15) lays in a basket as Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

SMU transfer forward Ja’Heim Hudson committed to Auburn on Friday night according to a post on his Instagram account, an addition that gives Auburn some long-sought frontcourt depth this offseason.

Hudson visited Auburn on May 15 and after several attempts to find a forward didn’t pan out, Hudson wound up as the swing Auburn finally connected on. Auburn reportedly held visits with Texas forward Dillon Mitchell who committed to Cincinnati earlier Friday and several recruiting outlets reported Auburn was supposed to have a visit with Clemson transfer forward R.J. Godfrey before he canceled it and quickly committed to Georgia. Auburn also reportedly had a call with Samford transfer forward Achor Achor, but never got him for an on-campus visit.

Auburn’s pitch is a bit complicated. There isn’t a clear path to starters’ minutes for any forward addition. Auburn brought back Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson. The only major frontcourt piece Auburn lost was Jaylin Williams, the winningest player in Auburn’s program history who exhausted his eligibility.

All three big men on Auburn’s roster before Hudson’s addition were going to play, and whoever came in to take the scholarship spot left by Williams was going to be part of a rotation.

In an age where players hit the transfer portal often looking for more playing time, Auburn is selling the opposite. Head coach Bruce Pearl proved that could work in an SEC Tournament title-winning season with a team that was truly 10-deep. Whether next year’s team will be the same is unclear, but it remains a general model.

Hudson, a Georgia native, came off the bench for SMU last season, his only year there after transferring from Georgia State.

Hudson entered the portal on May 1, after SMU hired former USC coach Andy Enfield to lead its team. Enfield’s departure from Los Angeles started a chain where Eric Musselman left the head coach job at Arkansas to go to USC and Arkansas lured John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas.

In his one year at SMU, Hudson played 15.2 minutes per game and scored 5.4 points per game. He played in 31 games and started one.

He started 34 games in the previous two seasons at Georgia State, including scoring 10.1 points per game as a sophomore in the 2022-23 season. Hudson will have one remaining year of eligibility.

Hudson and Georgia State played Auburn in the 2022-23 season at Neville Arena. Hudson scored eight points in that game and had 11 rebounds.

Hudson is Auburn’s second major transfer portal addition following Furman transfer guard JP Pegues. Auburn’s only other incoming forward at this point is freshman Jahki Howard.

Auburn has two remaining scholarships open, but is probably likely to only fill one of them. The second was vacated by Carter Sobera, a walk-on who earned a scholarship midway through last season.

For the spot Auburn will fill, it’s likely to do so with a guard. Auburn lost three top guards from last year’s team and has only brought in two thus far.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

I am not impressed with this transfer. Auburn needs a PF taller, too. He seems to be a bench warmer.

Edited May 18 by PUB78

[JuscAUse! 1,497]

36 minutes ago, PUB78 said:

I am not impressed with this transfer. Auburn needs a PF taller, too. He seems to be a bench warmer.

Well. He is. So there's that.

[WillMunny 1,384]

I was hoping that at least a couple of excellent transfer players would jump (get it?) at the chance to play for Bruce Pearl.

JJ Pegues was one of them.  I'm thankful for him.  But I don't think this Hudson kid is in that category.  Looks like he was a "last resort" addition, since our main targets didn't pan out.

Still, I hope he proves me wrong.

[Lotto 224]

I think Hudson is a fine addition.  He put up 8 points and 11 rebounds on auburn(!) yes not the best recruit we could have gotten but he seems athletic enough and will be an okay relief for Chaney Johnson who I think is going to be a stud.  Obviously things aren’t perfect as nothing ever is, but the sky isn’t falling we have 4 serviceable 4&5’s.  What our issue is and was last year is our guard play we desperately need a facilitator who can open up plays for our squad.  I think we improve from last year.  It just depends on our guard play that will limit our ceiling imo (hence why we lost in MM you need quality guards To make runs in MM). This may be a hot take but I think Chaney Johnson has more potential than Williams imo I’m very high on him seeing how quickly he improved last year 

[TexasTiger 13,130]

Pretty low key, perfunctory boom. No punctuation, but at least he capitalized the first letter.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,817]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

Pretty low key, perfunctory boom. No punctuation, but at least he capitalized the first letter.

His boom would register on the Richter scale if they end up getting that AJ Dybantsa kid in the next cycle 

[Auburn93 584]

23 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

al.com

With addition of former SMU F Ja’Heim Hudson, Auburn builds frontcourt depth

Published: May. 17, 2024, 8:29 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Georgia State forward Ja'Heim Hudson (15) lays in a basket as Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

SMU transfer forward Ja’Heim Hudson committed to Auburn on Friday night according to a post on his Instagram account, an addition that gives Auburn some long-sought frontcourt depth this offseason.

Hudson visited Auburn on May 15 and after several attempts to find a forward didn’t pan out, Hudson wound up as the swing Auburn finally connected on. Auburn reportedly held visits with Texas forward Dillon Mitchell who committed to Cincinnati earlier Friday and several recruiting outlets reported Auburn was supposed to have a visit with Clemson transfer forward R.J. Godfrey before he canceled it and quickly committed to Georgia. Auburn also reportedly had a call with Samford transfer forward Achor Achor, but never got him for an on-campus visit.

Auburn’s pitch is a bit complicated. There isn’t a clear path to starters’ minutes for any forward addition. Auburn brought back Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson. The only major frontcourt piece Auburn lost was Jaylin Williams, the winningest player in Auburn’s program history who exhausted his eligibility.

All three big men on Auburn’s roster before Hudson’s addition were going to play, and whoever came in to take the scholarship spot left by Williams was going to be part of a rotation.

In an age where players hit the transfer portal often looking for more playing time, Auburn is selling the opposite. Head coach Bruce Pearl proved that could work in an SEC Tournament title-winning season with a team that was truly 10-deep. Whether next year’s team will be the same is unclear, but it remains a general model.

Hudson, a Georgia native, came off the bench for SMU last season, his only year there after transferring from Georgia State.

Hudson entered the portal on May 1, after SMU hired former USC coach Andy Enfield to lead its team. Enfield’s departure from Los Angeles started a chain where Eric Musselman left the head coach job at Arkansas to go to USC and Arkansas lured John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas.

In his one year at SMU, Hudson played 15.2 minutes per game and scored 5.4 points per game. He played in 31 games and started one.

He started 34 games in the previous two seasons at Georgia State, including scoring 10.1 points per game as a sophomore in the 2022-23 season. Hudson will have one remaining year of eligibility.

Hudson and Georgia State played Auburn in the 2022-23 season at Neville Arena. Hudson scored eight points in that game and had 11 rebounds.

Hudson is Auburn’s second major transfer portal addition following Furman transfer guard JP Pegues. Auburn’s only other incoming forward at this point is freshman Jahki Howard.

Auburn has two remaining scholarships open, but is probably likely to only fill one of them. The second was vacated by Carter Sobera, a walk-on who earned a scholarship midway through last season.

For the spot Auburn will fill, it’s likely to do so with a guard. Auburn lost three top guards from last year’s team and has only brought in two thus far.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

Maybe practice depth. He can play with the scout team. 

[AUSCalum87 365]

9 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Pretty low key, perfunctory boom. No punctuation, but at least he capitalized the first letter.

I stated before, and look at his comments about Hudson, nothing about his actual play but stated about how he is a good teammate. Even Bruce knows this was a downer of a commit. Hudson is just there for depth, won’t get more than 5 minutes a game.

[arktiger1975 596]

I wish people would quit sh---in on the kid before he has even played a minute in an Auburn uniform. Give him a chance. 

[NCAubs 418]

24 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I wish people would quit sh---in on the kid before he has even played a minute in an Auburn uniform. Give him a chance. 

It’s the Chris Moore effect.  If you’re not scoring 15 a game, you’re not a valuable cog in the machine.  #sarcasm

[AUSCalum87 365]

36 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I wish people would quit sh---in on the kid before he has even played a minute in an Auburn uniform. Give him a chance. 

I wouldn’t say I’m degrading him at all. I believe I have made some valid criticisms of his play. He might be a great guy, cool. But if we’re just being honest with ourselves, this is a huge disappointment to what we could have had if Auburn cared about basketball. He’s literally a depth piece, nothing more. He couldn’t even start at SMU. I’m sorry I don’t pump sunshine on every player we have. I’ll never degrade their character, but I will critique their play and our coaches as well. Auburn could have had a top 5 team if we had an SEC starter at PF, but now that’s a weakness. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. 

[boisnumber1 2,828]

56 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

I wish people would quit sh---in on the kid before he has even played a minute in an Auburn uniform. Give him a chance. 

There's certain ones on this basketball forum who need to take a break and get a life. It's gotten beyond ridiculous. Some keyboard warriors who think they qualify to be an NBA GM, act like they have some kind of inside knowledge, when all they do is spew crap they read on X. Had to put them on ignore so I can actually read a thread without the same crap popping up over and over.