Analyst hints at Auburn landing former target who flipped to Tennessee in transfer portal

A former Auburn basketball target who wound up at Tennessee due to a reported NIL offer too good to turn down, Julian Phillips, could wind up on the Plains after all — with the Volunteers losing a wing to the transfer portal and Busting Brackets’ Tristan Freeman dropping hints that the coincidentally Tigers need a wing.

Phillips seemingly hinted that his 2022-23 freshman season would be the only one he played in Knoxville following Tennessee’s shocking elimination to March Madness Eastern Regional champion Florida Atlantic.

“I know the type of player I am. I know the work I put in,” Phillips said (h/t Knox News). “I have to get back in the gym, get my game right. The things that went well, we won a lot of games. A lot of bonds. My brothers, my teammates. I have friendships with these guys for the rest of my life. I am thankful for the season we had. I am still processing the end of the season, this game especially. Just being here with my team and being here with my brothers, this is really tough. Everything in the future, we can sit down and figure that out later when we get away from here.”

Auburn basketball departee takes shot at Alabama

In other Easter Sunday news, Wendell Green Jr. — an Auburn basketball departee who is trying his hand in the NBA and whose father muddied up his departure from the program — emphatically answered a college basketball Twitter account’s question of who would win in a best-of-seven series between 2021-22 Auburn and 2022-23 Alabama:

Green gave the Crimson Tide the benefit of the doubt and projected one win in the Iron Bowl of Basketball, though it’s clear he isn’t scared of Alabama’s best team in program history in the slightest.