Auburn assistant coach Wes Flanigan recently caught up with Jake Crain of The Jboy Show. The two talk about everything from recruiting to the future stars of Auburn hoops.
Recruiting:
Recruiting has skyrocketed after Auburn’s historic run to the Final Four in 2019. Auburn’s 2020 class is currently ranked ninth nationally on 247Sports. They bring in 5-star PG Sharife Cooper, 4-star PF JT Thor, 3-star PF Chris Moore, 3-star SG Justin Powell, and 3-star C Dylan Cardwell.
This move by Sharife Cooper 👀👀 HBD @CooperSharife pic.twitter.com/mQyGNHgCtw
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 12, 2020
What’s Auburn’s biggest secret to success? According to Coach Flanigan:
“A lot of it is based on winning. When you start winning you create this fanbase, and our fanbase is unbelievable. I feel like we’ve got the best home court advantage in the SEC and one of the best in the country.”
Family is also important when it comes to Auburn’s style of recruiting. “We keep the families close. Our families are a part of our team, we don’t push those families back we urge them to continue to support their kids.” Flanigan continues to describe how Coach Pearl built Auburn basketball on the foundation of family. Bruce Pearl’s son Steven has coached alongside his father for six years now and was promoted to assistant coach in 2017. Flanigan’s son Allen had a successful freshman season appearing in all 31 games and finished as the Tigers’ third-best rebounding guard.
On coaching his son:
Flanigan never imagined that he and his son would be at Auburn at the same time, but it feels like a dream come true for the assistant coach.
Allen Flanigan | Little Rock, Ark.
✅ 6-5, 200, F
✅ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and No. 1️⃣ player in Arkansas
✅ Son of Auburn legend and current assistant coach Wes Flanigan
✅ 13.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.9 spg as a junior at Parkview Magnet HS#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/MQgt1HgXpm— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) November 26, 2018
Coaching your son’s basketball team isn’t always easy. Flanigan describes the experience to be, “like a roller coaster,” citing the he and his son’s different emotions as well as the ups and downs that come with coaching. Now that he coaches his son he feels an additional level of anxiety that didn’t exist before. “I want him to do so well a lot of times so that adds a little anxiety and pressure to me.”
On the 2018-2019 season:
Against Georgia: Flanigan realized a major turning point in the season as Auburn faced Georgia on the road after a brutal loss to Ole Miss. Georgia didn’t have a great RPI and the Tigers knew that another humiliating loss would damage their tournament hopes. The game came down to a three from Chuma Okeke. Flanigan said that was Chuma’s, “I’m ready, now I’ve arrived” moment.
Skip to 2:30 for that Okeke three:
Against Kansas: “When I watched us play the way we played against Kansas, that was the first time I felt really, really good about us getting to the Final Four.”
Against North Carolina: “When we played North Carolina I felt like there was no way we was losing to them.”
Which Auburn players we should start buying stock in:
“As a dad, Allen Flanigan,” Wes laughs. (he’s not joking, buy stock now).
Our @AuburnMBB Rockstar of the Month is Babatunde “Stretch” Akingbola! He is always up for a challenge and takes great pride in doing his best. His perseverance is unmatched and we can’t wait to see what he can do on the court! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/S9TlrrG5fH
— Auburn SASS (@Auburn_SASS) October 31, 2019
Tyrell Jones, Babatunde (Flanigan cites his impressive work ethic), Jaylin Williams-all highly recruited (buy stock now).
“The thing we’ll miss that we’ve had the last few years is the level of experience, but the talent is there.” Flanigan says there are a lot of (Auburn basketball 2020-2021, these boys are going to be fun to watch just buy stock now).
The entire interview is great, listen here.