Tahaad Pettiford walked into the perfect situation for a young superstar-in-the-making last season at Auburn. Instead of having to be the man from the very beginning, he joined a team of grizzly veterans who were hungry, desperate to make up for an early exit in the previous NCAA Tournament and players that weren’t going to accept excuses, no matter how you were rated coming out of high school.
In that role, coming off the bench for the SEC regular-season champions and Final Four-bound team, Pettiford found comfort in being the spark that helped the Tigers to a historic season while learning how to be a professional at the collegiate level.
Those lessons have seemingly not translated into his sophomore season, culminating on Saturday when, for the first time this season, Pettiford was not in Auburn’s starting lineup. After the game, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl explained why.
“Tahaad, it was a coach’s decision,” Pearl said. “It was a failure to meet our team standards and expectations. Tahaad has got to do a better job of leading by example, and it’s something that we just continuously talk about.
“Until he does those things off the court — he’s got to stop putting me in these positions where I have to make difficult decisions.”
While Pettiford ended up having a terrific game, pouring in a team-high 25 points in the 104-100 overtime loss to Georgia, it was a sign that his maturity, and more importantly, his leadership, have not reached the level needed for the Tigers to be the team they want to be this season. Gone are Dylan Cardwell, Chris Moore, Johni Broome and all of those other guys who kept everyone in line last season, and maybe even more significantly, gone is Bruce Pearl, replaced by his son on the first day of fall practice in a move that is looking less seamless and more troublesome.
Pettiford is the only key player left from last year’s team that, despite its own problems, had players who kept everyone in line and focused on the goal. Now, the New Jersey native needs to be that guy, the one who holds everyone accountable on and off the court.
Steven Pearl lays down the guidelines
“Guys need to be on time,” Pearl said. “Guys need to do the things that we’re asking them to do. And if they don’t, you’ll come off the bench, or you’ll lose rotation. We have a standard. We have an expectation in this program, and it’s going to be upheld.”
If Pettiford can’t be that guy, this team is in trouble. With so many newcomers and a team trying to still gel together in the new year, and with another gauntlet of an SEC schedule facing them, the sophomore, the preseason All-America pick, needs to step up in many ways, most notably in doing the right things.
Hopefully, Pettiford learned his lesson. Pearl did mention the fact that the guard had a great practice in response to the news that he was not in the starting lineup. Maybe it is a wake-up call that he’s now a leader, not the young guy still learning the ropes.
Auburn’s season, and NCAA Tournament hopes, might rely on it.