Auburn Basketball: Former Tiger signs with Spanish pro team

Former Auburn standout Antoine Mason’s latest career move will take him to Spain.

Just days after former Auburn basketball star Kenny Gabriel signed with Montenegrin club KK Mornar Bar, another former Auburn standout is also taking his talents to Europe.

After spending the last four seasons playing professionally in Cyprus, Canada and China, Antoine Mason has signed with Spanish club Carramimbre CBC Valladolid of the LEB Oro — the second division of the Spanish basketball league.

https://twitter.com/CBCValladolid/status/1285886360478461952

Mason came to The Plains in 2014 as a grad transfer from Niagara University. In four seasons at Niagara, the 6-foot-1 guard averaged nearly 20 points per game and in his redshirt junior season, Mason led the NCAA in scoring with 25.6 points per game.

Mason was a part of Bruce Pearl’s first season at Auburn and his one season with the Tigers, he ranked second on the team with 14.4 points per game to go along with 2.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and a career-high 40.2 percent from deep.

After leaving from Auburn, Mason, the son of New York Knicks star Anthony Mason, dominated in Canada with the Halifax Hurricanes. After spending part of the 2018-19 season in China with the Fujian Lightning, the 28-year-old guard returned to Halifax.

Last season, Mason was the Canadian League’s leading scorer at 25.7 points per game while also putting up 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists on his way to be named an NBL All-Star.

As for his new squad, Carramimbre CBC Valladolid, affectionately known as “Las Ardillas” (The Squirrels), finished last season with an 18-6 record and were in first place in the LEB Oro until the season was postponed in May due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Usually, the two teams at the top of the LEB Oro would be promoted to the Spanish ACB League which is the top division in the country and is often seen as the second-best basketball league in the entire world behind the NBA.

Mason now joins several former Auburn basketball players now playing in Europe including Kenny Gabriel, T.J. Dunans, Tay Waller and  Kareem Canty.