Chad Baker-Mazara shocked the world on Monday, committing to USC after being linked to SEC rivals like Kentucky and Ole Miss early in his recruiting process in the transfer portal. Perhaps more shocking is how he framed his arrival in Los Angeles.
"Dreams turned into reality," CBM proclaimed on Twitter.
So, after Auburn fans put up with his immaturity on the floor, which oftentimes ended in technical fouls, flagrant fouls, and several notable ejections like the infamous Round of 64 Yale loss last year and the IBOB regular season finale against Alabama, he's now claiming playing on the Plains wasn't his dream.
Ouch.
Baker-Mazara's farewell to the Tigers was standard ChatGPT-type fare.
"First I wanna thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to do what I love but I wanna thank my teammates, coaching staff and the Auburn Family for the incredible support for this past two years! With this been said I would be entering the transfer portal. Gracias Auburn," CBM wrote upon his initial transfer announcement.
Baker-Mazara reportedly burned the Auburn bridge, explaining the cold verbiage in his goodbye and his hello to USC.
"As I reported last week to our subs, Auburn essentially wasn’t an option for CBM anymore after he entered the portal. All the goodwill was basically gone," On3's Justin Hokanson.
In modern college basketball, money is everything. UCF's Keyshawn Hall got more money from Bruce Pearl and Co. in the portal, and CBM wasn't happy.
Money caused all goodwill to be gone.
CBM has now transferred schools four times. His latest was because he wanted $2 million instead of $1 million.
Is this sustainable? Who knows. But Pearl not bending to Baker-Mazara's will another second more is probably better for the program in the long haul.