The wait is over, people. Walker Kessler has finally committed to Bruce Pearl and the Auburn basketball program. After a roller coaster ride of a wait, where UNC fans were positive that new head coach Hubert Davis was going to get him back, Kessler will officially become a Tiger.
The commitment comes as welcome news for an Auburn basketball team that has been missing out on transfer targets left and right as of late. Both Noah Gurley of Furman and Nimari Burnett of Texas Tech recently committed to play for Nate Oats and Alabama, while just today Xavier Pinson of Missouri announced that he would be going to LSU despite the fact that the Tigers weren’t even in Pinson’s top four schools.
Walker Kessler, a 5-star recruit out of high school, was a major target for Bruce Pearl but ended up spending his freshman year at UNC. However, Chapel Hill didn’t seem to be the right fit for the center, who entered the transfer portal and stayed there for a long time, considering Gonzaga and Auburn before being contacted by UNC’s new head coach Hubert Davis.
However, Kessler will officially be in orange and blue for the 2021 season despite valiant efforts from Coach Davis and the UNC fanbase to get him to re-commit:
UNC transfer Walker Kessler has committed to Auburn. #trustjboy @eBay @BleavPodcasts @FormerMrTRM @WarDamnStool @AUTigerBloggin @PatDyesFlask pic.twitter.com/G0c1qgQthY
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) April 12, 2021
According to Justin Ferguson via Twitter, Walker Kessler now becomes Auburn basketball’s second highest-ranked commit below Jabari Smith and above Sharife Cooper. Pearl and his squad now have the addition of three transfers to the 2021-22 roster in Wendell Green Jr. from Eastern Kentucky, Zep Jasper from the College of Charleston, and now Walker Kessler from UNC.
according to the 247Sports Composite, Sharife Cooper was the highest-rated signee in Auburn basketball history
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) April 12, 2021
he leaves this offseason, and Auburn adds two players with even higher recruit ratings
1. Jabari Smith (0.9985)
2. Walker Kessler (0.9923)
3. Sharife Cooper (0.9920)
Kessler adds to an Auburn roster that is going to have some seriously tough competition in the SEC this season with six teams competing in the NCAA tournament and Alabama coming off their impressive Sweet Sixteen run along with Arkansas making it all the way to Elite 8 and losing to future champions Baylor. Not to mention Mississippi State just picked up UNC transfer Garrison Brooks.
The SEC, well-known for its dominance in football, may be turning into a basketball conference.