Auburn basketball: Predicting leaders for every major stat category

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Zion Harmon #3 of Team Zion drives to the basket against Sharife Cooper of Team Jimma (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Auburn’s steals per game leader in 2020: Sharife Cooper

I’m going with Cooper two slides in a row here. He will definitely need to bulk up his frame if he wants to compete with some of the SEC’s bigger guards but as you can see from his 4.3 steals per game as a junior in high school, Cooper possesses lightning-fast quickness and strong defensive instincts.

None of the Tigers’ returning players put up more than 0.4 steals per game last season which leaves the door wide open for Cooper to take the spot atop the team’s steals leaderboard. Samir Doughty led the team with 1.2 steals per game last season and while I don’t think Cooper will necessarily be the team’s best defender, I do think the five-star freshman can put up just over one steal a game.

Players like JT Thor, Allen Flanigan and Devan Cambridge are also possible options here in my opinion.

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