Auburn basketball: Trey Alexander speaks out on Tigers de-commitment

The offseason for Auburn basketball was going very well, almost too well, after the commitment of four transfers from the NCAA transfer portal to the 2021 roster. However, the Tigers finally took a hit last week when four-star class of 2021 signee Trey Alexander was released from his NLI and officially reopened his recruitment.

While everyone was disappointed about the loss, it didn’t come as a gigantic surprise due to the newly acquired depth at his position. With Zep Jasper, Desi Sills, Wendell Green Jr. joining the Tigers this fall, the competition for minutes just got a little more intense. It seems as though the high school guard is looking for a college with more guaranteed playing time, and that’s alright if that’s what he wants to do.

However, adding more depth to the roster and asking an incoming freshman to compete for playing time isn’t a crazy concept, and when asked why he decided to reopen his recruitment, Alexander told The Oklahoman that it had to do with things he was told by the Auburn basketball staff:

"“I just felt like most of the stuff (Auburn) told me in the beginning of recruitment didn’t stick. They didn’t keep their word, basically. That’s the main reason I decided to decommit.”"

Trey Alexander is a young kid and is just trying his best to get himself into the best situation possible for him to get to the big leagues, but that doesn’t give him the right to bash the Auburn coaches for asking him to earn his starting role instead of guaranteeing it to him straight away. He also explained what he’s looking for in a new college:

"“The only thing I can think of right now is just letting me do what I was doing. Mainly just being able to play as a freshman, having a big impact as a freshman while being able to learn and grow, things like that.”"

Alexander’s words seem to confirm that the risk of falling behind the new additions to the Tigers’ roster is the reason he left. He emphasized that his past top schools don’t take precedence anymore and he plans to start over his recruiting process to find the best fit for him.

Whatever the reason for Alexander’s de-commitment from Bruce Pearl’s program, we wish him the best and hope that he finds the right college.