Auburn basketball: Baylor’s Matthew Mayer a transfer portal target
Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl is looking to add a player that absolutely torched his 2020-21 postseason ineligible Tigers as the sixth-man for the eventual champion Baylor Bears, Matthew Mayer.
Mayer is a high-level long-range shooter with great court awareness and the ability to force turnovers on the defensive end. He peaked as a second unit sniper for the championship Bears but saw his stats take a tumble his senior season, starting all 33 games he appeared in.
With immediate graduate transfer eligibility after four years in Waco, the Austin, Texas product could be interested in an NCAA existence outside the Lone Star State, and the Plains does offer unique NIL opportunities. Just because Julian Phillips couldn’t be won in a bidding war, doesn’t mean Mayer couldn’t be swayed with an additional incentive in a newly christened hoops crazed city. Open up those pocketbooks Mr. and Mrs. Neville!
Andrew Slater alluded to a potential pivot for Pearl in advance of knowing Phillips’ fate of wanting to be on Rocky Top due to financial incentives AU weren’t willing to match:
A few days ago, when the Phillips thing became clear, I recommended to a friend of the program to make a move on an impact Big XII transfer. Let’s see where that goes. https://t.co/aS0I96Xmd3
— 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇 (@Andrew__Slater) May 12, 2022
Auburn basketball has one scholarship left for the 2022-23 season
Matthew Mayer is among the many options Auburn has after its failed Julian Phillips pursuit according to 247Sports’ Nathan King:
"A smaller wing is Malachi Smith, who’s in the transfer portal and the draft after a standout senior season at Chattanooga. The 6-foot-4 Smith shot 40.7% from deep last season. His former coach with the Mocs, Lamont Paris, is now the head man at South Carolina, making the Gamecocks a popular projections for his services, should Smith choose to pull out of the draft."
The small forward position is the focus for the program given its crowded frontcourt and ball-handler rotations.