Auburn Tigers News: Maui Invitational bracket set, why Eugene Asante put off the NFL
In today's edition of Auburn Tigers News, Bruce Pearl and his team learn their bracket position for the Maui Invitational this fall and Eugene Asante explains why he returned to the Plains for another year.
This November, Bruce Pearl and the Auburn basketball team will be heading to Hawaii to play in the historic Maui Invitational against some of the biggest names in college basketball. The bracket has been set, and the Tigers are slated to face Iowa State in the first round of the tournament, which will take place November 27-29.
Auburn basketball and Iowa State are 2-2 all-time, and the last time the two teams faced off was in Neville Arena in 2020 for the SEC/Big 12 challenge, a game that the Tigers won.
After their matchup with Iowa State, the Tigers will face either North Carolina or Dayton, and the third game will be against one of the following teams: UConn, Memphis, Michigan State, or Colorado.
Eugene Asante explains why he returned to the Plains for another year
Linebacker Eugene Asante has had a roller coaster of a college football career. He's a fan-favorite now, with his popular 'let's work!' catchphrase and his playmaking skills on the field, but he wasn't always that guy.
Asante transferred to the Plains ahead of the 2022 season, and weeks later his father passed away after fighting a kidney disease. It was a hard time for the linebacker, who struggled to continue the grind of being a college football player and debated quitting the sport completely. He asked Bryan Harsin to put him on the scout team.
Fast forward to the Cal game in 2023. It was a breakout game for Asante, who made tackle after tackle and helped the Tigers pull out a tough win on the West Coast. By the end of the season, Asante led Auburn in tackles and considered heading to the NFL. But confidence in what is being built on the Plains led him to stick around for another year.
“I have 100 percent belief in them and everything they’re doing. I just want to be part of something special and I really believe that we can do that here at Auburn,” Asante said, per AL.com.