Bruce Pearl is flying toward his retirement, an unexpected and somewhat shocking announcement that broke on Monday, Sept. 22.
When Pearl departs, just as with any other collegiate sports program, the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team will have a 30-day transfer portal window open, where players can choose to leave the program.
BREAKING: Bruce Pearl is expected to retire as the head coach at Auburn, sources tell me and @PeteThamel. His son, Steven, is expected to be the head coach for the upcoming season. pic.twitter.com/gmCAUUQgCD
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) September 22, 2025
During the month-long period after a head coach retires, gets fired, or leaves for another program, players can enter the portal to find a new team to play for due to the fact that their head coach, Bruce Pearl in his case, is no longer with their current team.
For the Tigers, a handful of players leaving the team would hurt a little more than some of the others on the roster:
Sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford is the only remaining Auburn Tiger from last season, with the rest of the 2024-25 roster heading to another program or the NBA.
Last season, as a freshman, Pettiford played in all 38 of the Tigers' games, starting in one of them. He averaged nearly 23 minutes per game and earned 11.6 points, 3.0 assists, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game.
Because of his time in Auburn, albeit one year, it would truly rub salt in the wound if he decided to enter the transfer portal.
Forward Sebastian Williams-Adams just got to town. The true-freshman was the top prospect in Pearl's most recent class of recruits, which ranked No. 14 in the country.
Because of his status in the class of 2025, he was a big-time pickup for Pearl and the Tigers. So, his decision to go to another program would really hurt Auburn's status, even though he could easily head to the 2026 NBA Draft if he has a good freshman season.
Similar to Williams-Adams, combo guard Kaden Magwood was a four-star prospect in Auburn's most recent recruiting class. He was the No. 11 CG in the class of 2026 and chose the Tigers over a lot of other powerhouse programs.
If Magwood chose to hit the transfer portal after Pearl leaves Auburn, he could easily take his talents to a team like the Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans, or any other program that extended an offer when he was in high school.
Kevin Overton was a four-star prospect out of the transfer portal this offseason, coming to the Auburn Tigers from the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Last season for the Red Raiders, Overton averaged 7.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. He brought the veteran status that the Tigers desperately needed this year, but he isn't a stranger to the portal: starting his career at Drake before transferring to Texas Tech and then Auburn.