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Auburn basketball preview: 10 things to know (and a prediction) about 2022-2023 season
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In the 2022-23 season, the Auburn Tigers will look to make their way back to the top of the heap after a disappointing finish to one of the most promising seasons in program history. Ranked No. 1 for the first time, the Tigers won the SEC regular-season title for the 3rd time in 5 years. But they but stumbled in the postseason, losing their first game of the SEC Tournament and then bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round. They finished the season 28-6, and ranked No. 8.
The No. 15 Tigers, 1 of 5 SEC teams ranked in the preseason AP poll, begin that climb back to the top with Bruce Pearl starting his 9th season as the Tigers’ head coach.
Here are 10 things of note that will help shape the Tigers’ season for 2022-23:
Big shoes to fill
Pearl must replace a pair of NBA 1st-round picks. Finding a scorer to replace the 16.9 points a game that Jabari Smith provided before going to the pros will be a difficult task. Likewise, national defensive player of the year Walker Kessler’s 11.4 scoring average, and team-leading rebounds (8.1) and blocks (4.6) will be greatly missed as well.
Welcome new faces
Pearl brought in Morehead State transfer Johni Broome and 5-star recruit Yohan Traore, both 6-foot-10 forwards. The 235-pound Broome (6-10, 235) averaged a double-double last season, with 16.8 points and 10.5 rebounds a game, and was the Ohio Valley Conference defensive player of the year. Traore, a 225-pounder who is originally from France, was a highly sought-after recruit from Arizona.
Experienced guards
Auburn’s backcourt has a chance to be much improved with experience. Juniors K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. return to help run the show, with Zep Jasper on in a supporting role. Green led the team with 5.1 assists a game and averaged 12 points, while Johnson is the top returning scorer (12.3 ppg) and led in steals (1.9). Johnson was chosen for the 2nd consecutive season to the Bob Cousy Award watch list.
Williams’ role to increase
Jaylin Williams is in his 4th season at Auburn and has bided his time. Now that Smith is in the NBA, the 6-8, 230-pound senior forward from Nahunta, Ga., has an opportunity to step into an increased roll after averaging 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds last season.
Building stars
If you count Kessler, who played 1 season at Auburn after transferring from North Carolina, the Tigers have had 5 one-and-done players to the NBA in the past 3 years. Before that, Auburn had 4 NBA draft picks in the 25 previous years.
What will Flanigan bring?
Allen Flanigan, Auburn’s leading scorer 2 years ago, is back at nearly full strength from an Achilles injury that greatly reduced his production last year upon his return. The 6-6 wing has played in 80 games in the past 3 seasons for the Tigers and hopes to return to his 2020-21 form in which he averaged 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game as a starter for all 27 games.
Depth a plus
Pearl has 13 good players with which to work. Because of that, there’s real competition at nearly every position. It appears only Green has secured a starting role.
Class of the SEC
In the past 5 seasons, no Southeastern Conference team has won more games or had a better winning percentage than the Tigers. During that span, Auburn has posted a 122-44 mark (73.5 percent). Tennessee is the closest in the win column (119) followed by Kentucky (116) and Arkansas (113).
Handling the pressure
Since the arrival of Pearl, the Tigers are 86-26 in games played as a ranked team.
Prediction
There’s a plethora of talent on hand for Pearl. Sorting it out will be a chore, but with 616 career coaching wins the 62-year-old figures to be up up to the task. The Tigers look for a 2nd consecutive SEC regular-season title, but as 1 of 5 ranked SEC teams it won’t be a simple task. Kentucky (No. 4), Arkansas (No. 10), and Tennessee (No. 11) are ahead of the Tigers in the rankings with Alabama (No. 20) behind them.
Pearl no doubt will have his team on guard so an end-of-season fizzle won’t happen again. The Tigers finish a disappointing 3rd in the final SEC regular-season standings, but rally in the Big Dance and reach the Elite 8. They fall 1 win shy of returning to the Final Four for the 2nd time in program history.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
