On Thursday, Auburn guard JP Pegues entered the transfer portal after a frustrating season in the SEC. The former Furman star played just 15 games for the Tigers this season and under 10 minutes a game as he was buried on the depth chart behind Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, and freshman phenom Tahaad Pettiford.
Auburn guard JP Pegues has entered the transfer portal, per a @247Sports source.
— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) April 17, 2025
Averaged 18.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 4.8 APG in 2023-24 at Furman and was First Team SoCon. Will likely need a waiver to get another year of eligibility.https://t.co/JcBYwWUq9K
Point guard JP Pegues enters transfer portal
A two-year starter at Furman, Pegues took a major step up last season after averaging 18.4 points a game in the 2023-24 season and leading the Paladins to a first-round upset of Virginia in the 2023 NCAA Tournament as a sophomore. However, despite his lengthy track record of mid-major success, the 6-foot-2 senior struggled to find a role in the SEC, shooting a staggeringly low 21.4 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from three.
Pegues, who began the year as Auburn’s starting point guard and at least figured to settle in as a scoring guard off the bench for Bruce Pearl’s team, played 12 or more minutes in each of the first six games of the season before he was benched at the Maui Invitational. His final game with more than 15 minutes of playing time came in the Maui Invitational Championship, a 90-76 win over Memphis. He shot 1-5 from the field with one assist and one turnover.
By the end of December, Pegues was out of the rotation with Pettiford emerging as a much more reliable and exciting third guard off the bench.
Despite his struggles, Pegues was not quick to enter his name back into the transfer portal because he should be out of collegiate eligibility. He is awaiting an eligibility waiver from the NCAA for a fifth year, but according to reports, that waiver has not yet been approved.
Pegues is a talented player with a skillset more befitting a mid-major college basketball program, and that’s likely where he’ll be headed if the waiver is approved The Pegues addition was a frustrating miss from Pearl, especially early in the season, but the longtime head coach deserves credit for amassing enough depth in the backcourt to withstand such a significant mistakes and still produce the most successful season in program history.