KD Johnson – Syndication Server

Jersey numbers revealed for Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 additions

Check out which jersey number Auburn’s new roster additions will be wearing next season.

Next season, Auburn will be flaunting a new-look roster following the departures of players such as [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag]. Several key players including [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] return while [autotag]JP Pegues[/autotag] and [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] join the program.

Auburn basketball recently revealed the jersey numbers for several incoming players and a number change for a returning contributor. Guard Denver Jones will switch numbers from No. 12 to No. 2 this season, taking over the number previously worn by Auburn’s all-time winningest player, Jaylin Williams. During his first season on the Plains, Jones started in 33 games while averaging 9.1 points per game and recording 25 steals in 35 games.

Auburn’s lone transfer to this point, All-SoCon guard JP Pegues, will wear No. 1, taking the place of former guard and Alabama transfer Aden Holloway. The Nashville native earned all SoCon honors by scoring 18.4 points and recording 4.8 assists per game as a junior at Furman.

Next is Auburn’s top signee, Tahaad Pettiford. Pettiford signed with Auburn as a five-star composite guard from Jersey City, New Jersey. He is the nation’s No. 2 point guard from the 2025 cycle and was the No. 3 player from New Jersey. He will wear No. 0, previously worn by KD Johnson.

The final notable jersey number reveal is for [autotag]Jahki Howard[/autotag], the four-star forward who joined Pettiford in signing with Auburn as part of the 2024 class. Howard will wear No. 3 this season, previously worn by [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag], who transferred to Michigan during the offseason.

Outside of Auburn’s known departures, Matt Cohen of AL.com reports that former walk-on Carter Sobera will not return to the team for the 2024-25 season. Sobera is known for being awarded a scholarship last season. His Auburn career ends with 0.1 points, 0.4 rebounds, and a 33% field goal percentage over three seasons.

The 2024-25 roster update has not been finalized as Auburn is still welcoming potential transfers for visits including former Texas forward Dillon Mitchell.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 SEC opponents, locations revealed

Make your plans now to watch Auburn basketball compete in a revamped SEC slate this season.

The SEC Men’s Basketball landscape will change for the 2024-25 season and beyond, as Oklahoma and Texas will join to provide a boost to an already loaded conference.

Auburn will meet both the Sooners and Longhorns on the court this upcoming season as part of its’ 18-game SEC slate. The dates are not known at this point, but the locations are. As part of their initial schedule as SEC members, Texas will host Auburn while the Tigers will welcome Oklahoma to Neville Arena the SEC announced Monday.

Auburn has a short history with Oklahoma and Texas when it comes to men’s basketball. The Tigers have squared off with the Longhorns just once in history, winning a 45-27 contest in Auburn on Feb. 11, 1911.

Auburn has faced the Sooners three times in history, winning two. Most recently, Auburn defeated Oklahoma as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge during the 2021-22 season, 86-68 at then Auburn Arena. [autotag]Jabari Smith[/autotag] recorded a double-double by scoring 21 points and securing 12 rebounds while connecting on 9-of-10 free throw opportunities. [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag] added 21 points and nine rebounds while [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] scored 13 points.

Outside of Oklahoma and Texas, Auburn will welcome Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Tennessee to Neville Arena while facing Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt on the road.

Auburn will face rivals Alabama and Georgia, as well as Ole Miss in a home-and-home setting. The Tigers went 4-2 against those opponents last season, sweeping Georgia and Ole Miss while losing two games to Alabama.

Auburn will look to build on its SEC Tournament championship campaign next season with returning stars such as [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag], and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag]. A full schedule release will be revealed at a later date.

Duke reportedly will host George Mason on December 17

According to Jon Rothstein, KD Johnson and the George Mason Patriots will be one of Duke’s last non-conference games in 2024-25.

The Cameron Crazies won’t know the full 2024-25 schedule for a while now, but one day on the calendar might have been revealed on Wednesday.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, one of the foremost college basketball insiders, reported that the Blue Devils will host George Mason on December 17. He shared the news through X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Patriots would be one of the last non-conference games on Duke’s 2024-25 schedule if the report is accurate. During the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils played their last non-ACC opponent on December 30.

Duke played George Mason once in school history, a 69-53 victory back in December 2006. Head coach Jon Scheyer actually scored 18 points as a freshman in that game, making four of his seven 3-point attempts.

Former Auburn guard KD Johnson committed to the Patriots last month. He averaged 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 assists as a senior for the Tigers last season, but he made just 37.8% of his attempts and 27.1% of his threes.

Source: Duke will host George Mason on December 17th at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 8, 2024

The Blue Devils have also been linked to both Kansas and Illinois during the non-conference schedule, but neither game has been officially announced.

Aden Holloway enters the transfer portal

After two of Auburn’s guards announced their leave from the program, former five-star guard Aden Holloway does the same as he enters the portal.

Following Auburn basketball’s loss on March 22 to the Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament, players are beginning to make their decisions on what their future with the team looks like for the 2024-25 season.

The Tigers have had a couple of players enter the transfer portal for next season, including the likes of guards [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag].

Now, that list has been extended, as freshman and former five-star McDonald’s All-American [autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag] announced his intent to enter the portal on Tuesday as well.

The high school phenom was ranked as the No. 18 player in the nation in the 2023 recruiting class according to the On3 industry ranking. He committed to Auburn in August 2022.

Holloway was a starter on the roster for most of the 2023-24 season. He played in all 35 games this season, averaging 20.2 minutes per game over the course of the year.

The freshman showed signs of being an early star in his college campaign, but also struggled mightily at moments as well. He saw his minutes decrease at the end of January and into the better part of February as his shooting struggles continued to mount.

Holloway finished his first season scoring 7.3 points per game. His highest-scoring performance this season came against the Indiana Hoosiers in Atlanta, where he scored 24 points. He hit seven buckets in that game, with five of them being from 3-point land.

He averaged 1.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists on the year, so while not ever being a player to crash the glass in games, he shared the ball a good amount. He reached his season-high of six assists in a game on four separate occasions, including in the Tiger’s first game against Baylor.

Holloway enters the portal as most likely a highly sought out player, but has not indicated any clues on where he might be headed.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Tyler on Twitter @traley34

Chad Baker-Mazara announces return to Auburn for 2024-25 season

Baker-Mazara was a vital piece to Bruce Pearl’s squad last season.

One of Auburn’s vital pieces is set to return to the team for next season.

In a social media post, Auburn basketball posted a video Wednesday of guard Chad Baker-Mazara saying “My work is not yet finished” in Spanish before ending the video with a hearty “War Eagle.”

Baker-Mazara’s return is important for Auburn, as he finished the 2023-24 season in the top three of several major categories including points per game, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, and rebounds. It is easy to say that having a player of his caliber is valuable, which is why Baker-Mazara plans to stick around for another season.

The news comes hours after guard [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag] announced his intent to enter the transfer portal after spending two seasons on the Plains. Donaldson is the second player to declare for the portal, following [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag]’s announcement last week.

Baker-Mazara’s first season on the Plains ended in controversy. In Auburn’s round of 64 game with Yale, Baker-Mazara was issued a flagrant 2 foul from officials after it was shown that he threw an elbow at a Yale player just four minutes into the game. The Tigers ultimately lost the game, with some feeling that his absence ultimately led to defeat.

Following the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl defended Baker-Mazara and said that Auburn fans need to be sensitive when it comes to his athletes making mistakes.

“I’ll tell the Auburn family, while I know you’re disappointed, if someone was messing with your son, you’d stand up for him,” Pearl said. “Stop messing with my son, I’m calling you out. I’m not having it.”

Baker-Mazara ended the year with 10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists with an average of 21.7 minutes played per game.

[lawrence-related id=81148]

KD Johnson aims for increased minutes at new destination

Johnson hopes to make the most out of his final eligible season.

Last week, Auburn fans were disappointed that one of their favorite players announced that he would play his final eligible season elsewhere.

After three seasons on the Plains, guard [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] is searching for a new home. Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] met with Johnson following the Tigers round of 64 loss to Yale last month, where he says that the postseason conversation was successful. However, it was determined that Johnson’s role would remain the same next season if he were to stay, which forced a tough decision.

For his final season of eligibility, Johnson will look for a program that will allow him to earn more starts, as well as provide him an increase in minutes played.

“We just talked about the fact that… would would the joy of the game be more if perhaps he was someplace else and had more of an opportunity to do more of what KD does?” Pearl said. “Our discussion was really good.”

After starting in 31 of Auburn’s 34 games during the 2021-22 season, Johnson has made just one start, which came in the Tigers’ loss to Mississippi State on Jan. 27. His minutes have decreased by 10 full minutes during his Auburn career, also. He averaged 21.9 minutes per game during the 2022-23 campaign, which was a six-minute decrease from the season prior. Last season, he averaged 17.1 minutes per contest.

Johnson’s Auburn career ends with 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game in 102 total games over three seasons. Pearl also mentions thatJohnson plans to earn an Auburn degree in the future.

Back in time: What happened the last time Auburn faced Yale on the hardwood?

Auburn and Yale have played each other in basketball just once in history. Here’s how it played out.

Auburn will begin its journey for a national championship this week against Yale. The meeting between the Tigers and the Bulldogs will be the second all-time, and the first meeting took place not long ago.

Auburn hosted Yale for a regular season contest at then-Auburn Arena on December 4, 2021, and won convincingly, 86-64. The win pushed Auburn to 7-1 on the season and was part of a 19-game win streak that Auburn built during the 2021-22 season.

Five players reached double figures in points, led by [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag]’s 19-point showing. Jabari Smith was next in line with 17 points while [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag], [autotag]Devan Cambridge[/autotag], and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] each added 10 points.

Future first-round pick [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag] recorded zero points in just eight minutes of action but managed to lead the team in blocks with four. The Tigers recorded 14 total blocks in the game. [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], [autotag]Stretch Akingbola[/autotag], and [autotag]Chris Moore[/autotag] joined Kessler by recording multiple blocks.

Check out the best images from Auburn’s 2021 victory over Yale on the Plains below.

Photos: Auburn smashes South Carolina to advance to SEC Tournament semifinals

The No. 4-seed Auburn Tigers cruise to an SEC Tournament victory by taking down No. 5-seed South Carolina, 86-55.

Auburn had zero issues with South Carolina on Friday at the SEC Tournament. Turns out, they were the only top-seeded team to escape with a quarterfinal victory.

Auburn followed up its 40-point Valentine’s Day win over the Gamecocks by defeating them again on Friday by 31 points, 86-55. [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] reached double-figures off the bench while [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] recorded another double-double by scoring 18 points and rebounding 10.

Auburn advances to face Mississippi State on Saturday for a chance to play for the tournament championship on Sunday against either Texas A&M or Florida.

Here are the best images from Auburn’s quarterfinal win over South Carolina.

Auburn at Arkansas: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Saturday’s game in Fayetteville

The Auburn Tigers kick off the SEC campaign on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Auburn Tigers play the Arkansas Razorbacks in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

Auburn (11-2) closed their nonconference slate with a bang on Tuesday by defeating Penn, 88-68 for its sixth-straight victory. During the stretch, Auburn has won every game by at least 16 points and each game by a margin of 24 points.

The Tigers will look to continue its hot streak on Saturday by making the trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (9-4) to kick off the SEC campaign at 1 p.m. CT.

Over the six-game win streak, Auburn has relied heavily on forwards [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], as well as bench players [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], and [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag].

Now that it is time to flip over to the SEC portion of the schedule, head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] wants to see his players compete at the highest level they can achieve.

“What happens is when you get into conference play and you play against your best teams, typically your best players have to play their best games. That’s what has to happen. In conference play, our best players have to play their best games. We have balance and depth, and it helps us in foul trouble or God forbid an injury. Now that we’re at where we are at in conference play, our best players have to be there for us to win, they just do.”

[lawrence-related id=76921]

Below, you will find key information for Saturday’s game between Auburn and Arkansas in Fayetteville such as a broadcast guide, projected starters, and an injury report.

What Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s players said after beating Penn

Bruce Pearl, Denver Jones and Johni Broome had plenty to say after Tuesday’s win over Penn.

For the sixth straight time, the Auburn Tigers have won a basketball time by double-digits. This time, taking down Penn 88-68 Tuesday night in a packed Neville Arena.

Auburn once again showcased its depth with four different players scoring in double figures. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] led the way with 24 points while [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] scored 16 off the bench.

The Tigers had a commanding 51-32 lead at halftime after they went 10-of-19 from 3-point range to start the game. Penn mounted a comeback after the break but [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] scored back-to-back baskets to end the threat.

Here is what Pearl, Broome and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] said after Tuesday’s night win.