After the signing of Tyty Washington to the Kentucky Wildcats this week, CBS Sports updated their preseason Top 25 poll and stuck Auburn basketball in the No. 24 spot, barely making the list. Of the five SEC teams that made it onto the list, the Tigers are the lowest-ranked by quite a few spots. Does Auburn basketball really deserve to just barely make the top 25?
Maybe. The fact that Bruce Pearl’s Tigers just suffered quite the dismal season in 2020 has to be addressed. The woes of Sharife Cooper, Justin Powell, the post-season ban, and the transfer portal basically sum up the issues of 2020. CBS has no post-season to look at for Auburn, and the roster from last year has been essentially obliterated in the off-season.
Though the Tigers saw Sharife Cooper and J.T. Thor head to the NBA Draft, as well as Justin Powell, Javon Franklin, and Jamal Johnson transferring to different schools, Pearl was able to snatch up several key pieces of the roster from the NCAA transfer portal, including 5-star Walker Kessler and Arkansas standout Desi Sills. Not to mention 5-star recruit Jabari Smith, who recently moved up to the No. 4 player in the recruiting class of 2021.
In addition to the newfound experience that the transfer portal will bring the team, Pearl also has trusty returners in Jaylin Williams, Devan Cambridge, Chris Moore, Dylan Cardwell, Babatunde Akingbola, and Allen Flanigan. Their young talent paired with the experience of incoming transfers like Wendell Green Jr. and Zep Jasper makes for a formidable Tigers roster.
If you don’t agree that Auburn’s rank is too low heading into the pre-season, you have to agree that Alabama’s rank is entirely too high. Herb Jones, John Petty Jr., and Alex Reese will not be on the team next year, and the Crimson Tide is still waiting to see if Jaden Shackelford, John Primo, and Jahvon Quinerly will return to the roster or follow through with their NBA hopes by entering the 2021 Draft.
The Tide does add 4-star recruit Juwan Gary to the team, as well as transfers Nimari Burnett and Noah Gurley, but it seems a little ridiculous to place the Tigers so far behind the Tide when their roster is going to be just as shaken up.
Bruce Pearl is going to be working with so many new pieces this offseason that we’ll have to wait until much closer to the season to get a feel for the 2021 Auburn basketball team. Are they really just a No. 24, though? I guess if Alabama can be No. 4 then anything’s possible.