Tag: auburn basketball

WATCH: Auburn basketball breaks it down to Bruno Mars

This is just the latest in great dance videos from the Auburn basketball team.

When the Auburn basketball team releases a dance video, you know it is going to be good.

While this one doesn’t quite live up to the choreographed dance from last year’s team or Bruce Pearl doing his thing after the win versus Tennessee, it is still quite amazing.

This team already seems to have some good chemistry. Let’s hope that transfers over to the court

 

NCAA announces start date for 2020-21 basketball season

Auburn will return a young but talented team in 2020 after the Tigers six top scorers either graduated or declared for the NBA draft.

We will see Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers on the court before you know it.

On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that the start dates for both men and women’s basketball for the 2020-21 season is set for Nov. 25.

Per ESPN:

“The new season start date near the Thanksgiving holiday provides the optimal opportunity to successfully launch the basketball season,” NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said. “It is a grand compromise of sorts and a unified approach that focuses on the health and safety of student-athletes competing towards the 2021 Division I basketball championships.”

Over the past couple of weeks, discussions had centered around waiting until the Nov. 21-25 range to begin the season. Gavitt said last week on a webinar with athletic directors and other college sports officials that Nov. 25 was under consideration because campuses around the country will be ending their fall semesters.

“By Thanksgiving week, the date of Nov. 25, 76% of all Division I schools will have either finished their fall semester completely or released the general student body for in-person instruction,” Gavitt said on the webinar.

That means that Auburn basketball will likely have its home opener just days before the 2020 Iron Bowl which will take place in Tuscaloosa.

Watch: Charles Barkley can’t get names right, TNT crew loses it

The Round Mound of Rebound could not get the names of two NBA stars right.

Sometimes when people mess up on live television, it makes for the best television.

That was the case Saturday night as Auburn legend Charles Barkley couldn’t get the names of some NBA players out during an episode of Inside the NBA. Of course, Shaq, Ernie and everyone on set absolutely lost it.

Oh, Charles. You never fail to entertain.

Report: NCAA sets likely dates for start of 2020-21 college basketball season

Auburn is originally scheduled to begin the 2020-21 basketball season on Nov. 10.

It feels like years ago that we watched Samir Doughty and the Auburn Tigers put it on the Tennessee Volunteers in the last regular season game of the 2019-20 season. After that, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all of college sports including the SEC Tournament and March Madness.

On Thursday, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that the 2020-21 season could start sooner than later.

Auburn is originally scheduled to open the season against North Alabama in Auburn Arena on Nov. 10 and then travel to Seattle to face Pac-12 Washington on Nov. 19.

WATCH: Auburn coaches, athletic director issue statement of unity

All Auburn head coaches appear in this video.

One by one, each and every head coach of an Auburn athletic program appear in this video stating the need for everyone to stand together during these tough times. In the end, athletic director Allen Greene speaks in front of all of his senior staff.

Auburn basketball: Why JT Thor is a perfect fit on the Plains

Auburn freshman JT Thor will be a force for the Tigers.

Auburn freshman forward JT Thor has the kind of growth mindset that fits perfectly in Bruce Pearl’s program. It’s a mentality that harks back to the 2017 and 2018 teams who found great success when they were dramatically underestimated.

The rising star discussed a few of his favorite things as well as his playing career, both past and present, with AuburnTigers.com’s Greg Ostendorf earlier this week.

Here’s a few quick facts:

  • Thor’s favorite movie is Scarface
  • He loves his mom’s cooking
  • He intends to major in Business Marketing
  • Thor models his game after Kevin Durant and says the 31-year old Nets forward was an inspiration to him growing up
  • Yes, his favorite Marvel character is Thor not just because they share the same name, but because they, “can both drop the hammer. That thunderous dunk.”

Another interesting fact is that he grew up in Alaska before eventually moving to Norcross, Georgia. He wants everyone to know that in Alaska it does not snow there every single day and that while the winters are brutal the summers are actually very sunny and warm.

So, how does a kid who was born in Nebraska and raised in Alaska end up at Auburn?

According to him it all started on February 8, 2020 when the four star recruit attended the LSU vs Auburn basketball game on his first unofficial visit.

“They (Auburn) were down by 20, and they came back and won the game. The whole time I was on the visit, it just opened my eyes. It wasn’t even an official visit yet. But as soon as I came here, it was like “I think I want to be here.” It made me want to come on another visit, so I came to the game vs. Texas A&M. They lost, but after that, I was ready to plan my official and commit. This is where I wanted to be. It’s a good environment, a family-type environment that I want to be in.”

Thor says he’s ready to grow as a player under Bruce Pearl’s leadership. He cites Chuma Okeke, Isaac Okoro, and Tobias Harris (Tennessee) as models for his own playing potential under Coach Pearl. The freshman is ready to make an impact on both sides of the court and believes the 2020 class is one of the best in the country.

After losing six starters this spring (5 seniors and 1 lottery pick) preseason talking heads aren’t giving Auburn much love going in to the 2020-2021 basketball season. It’s nothing new for Coach Pearl and Auburn. JT Thor just arrived on campus and he already knows,

“I feel like we’re all underdogs. Everybody is an underdog, and we’re coming in with a chip on our shoulder. People are sleeping on us.”

This team is young, but they’re worth watching out for.

 

ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg: Isaac Okoro’s body ‘is NBA-ready’

Isaac Okoro finished second on the Tigers with 12.9 and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.

With the 2020 NBA Draft coming ever closer, a lot of attention is being paid to former Auburn standout Isaac Okoro. Not only do the scouts like his game, some college basketball analysts are also fond of his ability.

“In the Kentucky game, [Okoro] was the most physically imposing player on the floor,’’ ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said. “He was tough to keep off the glass and out of the lane. His body is NBA-ready.”

In a NY Post article talking about the possibility of the one-and-done joining the New York Knicks, the praise continued.

“This draft [Okoro] gets consideration as high as No. 4,’’ one NBA personnel director told The Post. “He’s got NBA size, is an athlete with toughness and plays D. So he can get on the court fairly quickly. Coaches like that. After the top three, you can make a case for a lot of players.’’

Greenberg even went as far as comparing him to Toronto Raptors star Jaylen Brown.

“He’s a winner,’’ Greenberg told The Post. “He probably could defend 1-to-4 without an issue. He’s physically strong. He’s got a good floor game. You can post him up. He’s got some similarities to Jaylen. Physically strong, really defend and a toughness about him. High energy. Relentless work ethic. The thing I like the most is just his relentlessness.

“Jaylen Brown had the same question coming out of college, too, and he’s a good shooter now.”

Of course, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl knows what Okoro is able to do on the court after coaching him for one season and, after meeting with the Knicks organization, is confident in the team getting the right guy.

“They’ve done their homework on him,” Pearl told The Post recently. “I didn’t get a read on it, but they’ve done their due diligence.”

Where Isaac Okoro is slated in latest NBA mock draft

The former Auburn star is set to be a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The lottery is over and the Minnesota Timberwolves have the right to the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

While Isaac Okoro won’t hear his name at that spot despite what Jay Bilas might thing, he won’t have to wait long per the latest mock draft by USA TODAY.

Per Scott Gleeson, the former Auburn standout will be picked at No. 9 by the Washington Wizards.

“The wing has athleticism and a wingspan that could make him an elite defender at the next level, shutting down opposing perimeter forces. That’s a big void for Washington, one of the worst defensive teams in the league.”

In his one and only season on the Plains, Okoro finished second on the team with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while also taking on defensive responsibility of guarding the opponents’ best offensive player.

Charles Barkley takes cognitive test on air, gets roasted by Shaq and Kenny

The Auburn basketball legend had a little bit of trouble with this test.

(This was originally published on For The Win.)

A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump made headlines when he said he aced a cognitive test, which included the challenge of remembering and reciting a list of five different words. On Thursday night’s Inside the NBA on TNT, Ernie Johnson gave co-host Charles Barkley a basketball-themed cognitive test of his own – and Barkley had a bit of trouble remembering his five words.

Johnson first presented Barkley with his words to remember – Boston, shot-clock, Denver, donut, Utah – and then asked him three different questions before having Barkley repeat the five words. Barkley mostly nailed a question about NBA markets that begin with the letter ‘M,’ but things went downhill from there.

In Sir Charles’ defense, he had to deal with Kenny Smith and Shaq constantly harassing him while he was trying to figure out the answers, and the question about the number of Zs used in a series of words was poorly written. I feel confident that Chuck would have aced all of these questions in a quiet room, but Smith didn’t really give him any respite to think.

WATCH: Isaac Okoro pens a heartwarming letter to Auburn

The star freshman finished second in both points and rebounds for Auburn last season.

This might require some tissues to cry into.

On Monday, Auburn basketball’s Twitter account released a video of Isaac Okoro penning a letter to Auburn and its fans as he announced that he is staying in the NBA draft.

The one-and-done star finished second on the Tigers with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds while serving as a defensive force for Bruce Pearl.

Okoro is expected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft.