It’s been less than 48 hours since Auburn won the 2026 NIT championship and less than 15 hours since the NCAA transfer portal opened, yet the Tigers have already seen one player, Filip Jovic, announce that he will be leaving Auburn for another program, according to Auburn Undercover’s Nathan King.
In his one season on the Plains, Jovic averaged 6.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists while playing 18.2 minutes per game for Steven Pearl. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and identifying as a Bosnian Serb, Jovic played professionally in both his homeland and, more recently, in Serbia, where he suited up for KK Mega Basket from 2023-25, averaging 12 points in 22 minutes per game during the 2024-25 season.
The 21-year-old Jovic committed to Auburn in May of 2025, enrolling not far after and hoped to be a major player for a team that returned just one key player from the 2024-25 team that won the SEC regular season title and made it to the Final Four.
Filip Jovic played his best basketball during Auburn's NIT run
In Auburn’s 92-86 victory over Tulsa in the NIT Championship, the 6-foot-8 forward scored 12 points while dishing out four assists and coming down with three rebounds. Jovic recorded double digits in points in the Tigers’ last four games, including 18 in the quarterfinal win over Nevada, and averaged 13.8 points per game during that four-game stretch.
His season-high came in a 71-67 victory over South Carolina on Jan. 17, when he put up 23 points while also grabbing six boards.
After a rocky season in Pearl’s first year in charge, there are expectations that the Tigers will see some major turnover on the roster, with even Pettiford’s status on the team going into next season in question after a tough sophomore year in which he still averaged 15.4 points per game.