Auburn basketball: Predicting leaders for every major stat category

Auburn’s rebounds per game leader in 2020: Jaylin Williams

Notching over 40 rebounds per game (40.8 to be exact,) the Tigers were the best team in the SEC at crashing the boards. Led by 9.3 rebounds by center Austin Wiley and 4.4 per game from Okoro, Purifoy and McLemore each, Auburn rarely lost the battle on the boards.

Unfortunately, all of those aforementioned players are now gone and like most years, Auburn isn’t exactly the biggest team in the country.

Rising sophomore guard Allen Flanigan is the team’s leading returning rebounder but he only put up 2.7 rebounds a game and while he does crash the boards well for his size, it’s unlikely that the 6-foot-5 guard will lead the team in rebounding.

As a true freshman in 2019, Jaylin Williams only recorded 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds a game in 7.1 minutes a contest but Williams earned major playing time in the second half of the season and is a popular pick for a breakout candidate in the conference.

At 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, Williams may not have the size of a traditional lead rebounder but Auburn has excelled with an undersized roster for the past few seasons. Williams reminds me of former Tennessee star Grant Williams who dominated the boards in Knoxville despite being undersized at the power forward position but a strong frame and athleticism could help Williams overcome that.

Sophomore center Babatunde Akingbola will be the team’s tallest player next season at 6-foot-10 and could be the leading rebounder if he gets enough minutes and incoming freshmen Dylan Cardwell, Chris Moore and JT Thor could all be that guy but Williams was great down the stretch for the Tigers and will crash the boards with regularity. I think Williams could put up around seven rebounds per game if he separates himself from the pack.