Auburn basketball: 5 potential unsung March Madness heroes

There’s just one more Auburn basketball game at the Neville Arena–it’ll officially be renamed that before next Saturday’s season finale at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks–and two more games total until the Madness begins.

‘Coach K’ could seal his legacy at Duke with one more championship before he retires. Scott Drew could further his own with a second consecutive title with the Baylor Bears. Mark Few could finally get Gonzaga over the hump in Spokane.

Then, of course, there’s Bruce Pearl, who has the best chance he’s ever had to win a championship at the Division I level (he won a D2 title with Southern Indiana) with the 2021-22 Auburn basketball Tigers.

Pearl has plenty to prove after allegations shut him out of a chance at a title in 2021 and a pandemic took away a tremendous chance to win one in 2020. His last foray into March Madness resulted in a Final Four trip that came tantalizingly close to a championship game appearance.

If he does get there in 2022, it could be because of an unsung hero. By unsung, we certainly don’t mean projected top NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith, and we don’t mean dark horse SEC Player of the Year candidate Walker Kessler either.

We don’t even mean Wendell Green Jr., who has had eight games of 19 points or more this season.

These 5 players certainly qualify, though:

Potential Auburn basketball March Madness hero #1: K.D. Johnson

K.D. Johnson had a great showing against the Vols in a loss on Saturday, but he has had a rough go of it in recent weeks.

He was 25/77 from the field since January 29th until then. While Johnson has always been able to put up gaudy scoring totals due to his ability to get to the free throw line (4.5 FT attempts per game) he hasn’t been given as long a leash by Pearl due to his inefficiency.

Things may be turning now after Knoxville.