Auburn basketball’s nightmare continues season with Tyrell Jones transfer

Auburn basketball was dealt another blow in a season full of them when it was announced Tyrell Jones is transferring to South Alabama.

The Auburn football program just had a four-star recruit stolen away on Christmas Day by the University of Alabama. Now, the Auburn basketball program is also having a top recruit poached, as the man they call “Turbo” is putting on the jets and heading to Mobile, Alabama to play a starring role on South Alabama of the Sunbelt Conference.

The Tigers actually picked up a win over South Alabama earlier this season, and have won two consecutive games against Sun Belt opponents, beating Troy and Appalachian State by a combined 52 points to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Jones didn’t have the start to his career he likely would have wanted, and it was clear that through the first few games of this season he may not ever grow into a starring role with Justin Powell shining brightly and the potential of Sharife Cooper returning:

"Jones, a sophomore guard, left the Tigers team just before Christmas. He played in seven games with three starts this season, averaging 11.6 minutes and 3.3 points per game.The 6-foot-1 Jones was a four-star recruit in the 2019 class out of West Oaks Academy in Orlando, Fla. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining at South Alabama, beginning with the 2021-22 season."

As al.com’s Creg Stephenson noted, Jones isn’t the only Power-5 player to transfer to South Alabama:

"Jones is one of two high-profile transfers to commit to South Alabama in recent weeks, along with TCU forward Diante Smith. Like Jones, Smith will sit out the remainder of this season and have three years of eligibility beginning next fall."

With Jones now out of the rotation, Bruce Pearl’s squad will have a more clear direction on who the ball should go to as Auburn basketball aims to figure out how to develop a team that can make noise in SEC play when the team returns to postseason eligibility in 2022.

And hey, if you don’t like his decision, the War Eagle believes you should respect his decision anyway, just as he asks:

Good luck on the next step in your career Mr. Jones.