Auburn basketball: Sharife Cooper sits at #11 in NBCSN mock draft

The 2020-21 Auburn basketball season is in the books, and in hindsight, it was truly a remarkable season for Bruce Pearl and the Tigers.

Playing in a conference that could send as many as eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, Pearl was able to knock off several ranked teams despite never getting to see his three top-100 recruits play together. While JT Thor got to share the floor with Justin Powell for the non-conference portion of the schedule and later on with Sharife Cooper for a large chunk of the SEC slate, the trio never saw a minute of action together.

Cooper shined anyway, despite sitting out the last four games of the schedule. The Tigers split their final four contests 2-2 without him but picked up its biggest win of the season over a ranked Missouri program after a 28-point, eight-assist, seven-rebound masterpiece by the six-foot-one scoring guard.

The first few explosive games of Cooper’s career, which included a 26/9/4 stat-line against Alabama, set Cooper on a (potential) path to the NBA Draft.

Where does he stand now, though, after missing out on the stretch run of the 2020-21 season?

Pretty high still, apparently:

"11. Indiana Pacers: Sharife Cooper, Point Guard, AuburnCooper is a flashy point guard that loves to create for himself and others off the dribble. He’s dangerous with the ball in his hands and he’s averaging nearly nine assists a game in his freshman season at Auburn. He’s a work in progress when it comes to perimeter shooting and he turns the ball over at a high clip, but this is a highlight reel player waiting to happen.Cooper has an ability to keep his defender off balance and there is a chance he looks even better at the NBA level when the spacing opens up. For a team like Indiana, they could use a change of pace type player that brings energy and excitement."

Cooper was recently projected to fall out of the lottery, so it is good to see NBC Sports’ James Ham still consider him as such.

Here’s to Cooper excelling in 2021-22, whether it be on the Plains with Auburn basketball or in the pros!