Auburn basketball: Why Auburn should be the favorite to land 5-star point guard

J.D. Davison’s list is now down to eight. Here’s why he should choose Auburn.

Since Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl in March of 2014, the Tigers have seen a drastic increase in recruiting and overall talent coming into the program. Since Pearl’s first recruiting class at Auburn, the program has signed 13 four-star prospects and have brought in the first two five-star prospects in program history.

Those two five-star prospects, Mustapha Heron and incoming freshman Sharife Cooper were both top-25 players in the nation and while they’re both massive parts in Auburn’s recent turnaround, the Tigers have the chance to grab a player that could eclipse both of them.

Among the best rising seniors in all of high school basketball sits five-star point guard J.D. Davison. The No. 12 overall prospect in the class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite, Davison recently cut his list of schools down to 10 — a list that includes Auburn.

The top point guard prospect in the country according to 247Sports (and No. 2 on the composite), the Letohatchee, Alabama product has plenty of great options for his journey to the next level. In no apparent order, Davison’s top 10 includes five other SEC schools (Alabama, UGA, Florida, Arkansas and LSU) as well as top programs like Kansas, Louisville, Florida State and Memphis.

With 9 of his 10 final schools in the South, Davison is more than likely going to stay relatively close to home. Most experts have Auburn, Alabama and Memphis as tentative leaders for the elite PG but why should Auburn be No. 1 among his list? There are multiple reasons.

For one, look at Auburn and Bruce Pearl’s recent success. The team has a combined record of 81-24 over the past three seasons, made the Final Four in 2019 and were more than likely going to be headed to their third-straight NCAA Tournament prior to the season being canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Memphis is certainly a team on the rise and has the big draw of former NBA star Penny Hardaway as their head coach. At the same time, they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since the 2013-14 season.

As for Auburn’s arch-rivals, new head coach Nate Oats had a relatively successful first season emulating Auburn’s fast-paced, three-point heavy offense but again, the Crimson Tide haven’t had nearly the same success as Auburn has had in recent years.

And it’s not only about team success either. Just take a look at how Pearl has developed his star players. Both Isaac Okoro and Chuma Okeke were four-star prospects coming out of high school and Pearl turned them into likely top-16 draft picks in one and two seasons respectively.

As for guards, Pearl helped the undersized Jared Harper put together an extremely successful three-year career and now, an NBA career with the New York Knicks. If Pearl can do that with an undersized, under-recruited Harper, imagine what he can do with arguably the top PG in the nation who stands at 6-foot-3.

Not to mention, Auburn’s all-time three-point leader Bryce Brown was a three-star prospect in high school with zero other Power 5 offers. Pearl has been excellent at getting players that may be overlooked for whatever reason and turning him into stars.

The success of fellow five-star point guard Sharife Cooper will likely be paramount to Auburn’s recruitment of Davison. If Cooper is the team’s star player and shows true NBA potential, that’ll be a huge draw for Davison.

Additionally, Auburn plays an extremely exciting style of play. Characterized by fast-paced play, hustle and three-point shooting, it’s a style that certainly enticing today’s top prospects.

Davison will probably do more of his damage inside as his insane vertical and athleticism have led to comparisons to Steve Francis and Dennis Smith Jr. but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the perimeter skills to excel on The Plains.

Not to mention, Davison’s exciting style of play would pair perfectly with the excitement created at Auburn Arena and The Jungle — one of the best student sections in all of college basketball.

I’m not the only one who thinks Auburn is the leader for Alabama’s top prospect. This very month, Rivals.com writer Dan McDonald switched his prediction for Davison from Alabama to Auburn and national basketball analyst Corey Evans did the same thing switching his prediction from Memphis to Auburn.

Schools like Kansas and Lousiville may be able to offer more of a “blue-blood” attitude but few teams can surpass Auburn’s success in the last three years. Bruce Pearl has proved he can take star recruits and quickly turn them into NBA prospects and Davison should realize he could be the best of them all.

Depending on if Sharife Cooper is a one-and-done prospect or not, Davison would have the opportunity to either create one of the best backcourts in the country or come in right away and be the star player.

Davison came to The Plains on a visit in February and saw the Tigers beat the Kentucky Wildcats on College Gameday in front of a sold-out Auburn Arena. Davison had the following to say about the game per Jason Caldwell of Auburn Undercover.

"“It was a very good environment,” Davison said. “Auburn playing Kentucky and seeing all of the fans get involved. It was great.”“The fans and how they came through,” Davidson said of his biggest takeaway. “That stood out to me and also how the players played off the fans.”"

Pearl is well-known for giving his players freedom to do their thing on the court and for a talent like Davison, that should be extremely appealing and ultimately what should put Auburn over the top.