Auburn basketball: The 5 most underrated players of the Bruce Pearl era

During my final days as a Student Manager for the Auburn Men’s Basketball team, the team was hosting a JUCO recruit and he, along with the actual team, were scrimmaging five-on-five in the practice gym.

That JUCO recruit, who ended up being Malik Dunbar, was making incredible plays left and right and flushing down some of the best “in-game” dunks I had ever seen.

Dunbar, a 6-foot-6, uber-athletic wing out of South Carolina,  played two seasons for the Tigers. And while he was never a star, and even came off the bench for most of his career, Dunbar was one of the best and most exciting role players Auburn has ever had.

Energetic, strong and tenacious, Dunbar was a human highlight reel. In his two seasons, he averaged 6.1 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc.

A threat to dunk it on your head or send your shot the other way on every play, Dunbar certainly had his ups and downs but he was an integral part of Auburn’s last two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Dunbar may not be remembered in 20 years’ time in the way that Bryce Brown or Jared Harper will be, and that’s fair but Dunbar brought a lot of fire to Bruce Pearl’s squad and he deserves a ton of credit.

After Auburn, Dunbar actually got a Summer League opportunity with the Golden State Warriors and would later sign with the Artland Dragons of the  German ProA League until he was released by the team earlier this year.