Who does Auburn lose, and who do the Tigers gain this basketball season

There is a little over a month until basketball season and I am so excited. I love and adore the staff at College and Magnolia for always looking out for me and reminding me to take it one game at a time, perhaps be slightly more logical and not work myself into a frenzy. Yeah, right. I have never been that kind of hoops fan. I have always believed in the Tigers until they give me a reason to not believe.

Case in point: We were in New Orleans last year for the entire SEC Tournament because I knew something amazing was going to happen. Auburn lost in the first round, but I had a marrow-encrusted ribeye at August that was amazing. I also drank a lot of Abita. Oh well, War Eagle always.

Anyway, let’s start by looking at the roster from last year.

The Dearly Departed

Losing seniors Tony Neysmith, Kenny Gabriel, Jake Drum and Adrian Forbes was to be expected. Given that, one would think it would be manageable -- although losing Gabriel and Forbes stings -- with 13 players returning for the 2012-13 season. Um, no. Josh Langford, Varez Ward and Cedrick McAfee were dismissed from the team, and Bernard Morena and Willy Kouassi transferred.

Langford suffered a concussion during the Arkansas game at Auburn and missed the last three games. Ward, accused of point shaving, was dismissed from the team after the Florida game, missing the last six games. McAfee played in three games early in the season, but after an injury, he missed the rest of the season. Morena missed the entire season after a preseason injury. Kouassi came on strong in the last few games of the season and was expected to be a major contributor heading into this year, but he and Morena chose to transfer in the offseason.

So where does that leave the Tigers for this year? Here’s a look at the current roster:

Meet the New Tigers

KT Harrell is a transfer from Virginia and will redshirt this year. Asaunh Dixon-Tatum played last season at Chattahoochee Tech. He averaged 11.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.3 blocks over 29 games. Shareif Adamu is also a junior college transfer from Georgia Perimeter College. He averaged 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks over 27 games.

The incoming freshmen bring a lot to the table. Shaquille Johnson was ranked 92nd nationally by ESPN.com and averaged 17 points and seven rebounds per game in 33 games at Milton High School. Jordan Price was ranked 61st nationally by ESPN.com. He averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 33 games at Southwest Dekalb High. Price shot 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from 3-point range and 70 percent from the foul line. Nick Pellar and Brian Greene Jr. were teammates at IMG Academy. In their post-graduate season, the former averaged 11 points and five rebounds, and the latter with 15.5 points, six rebounds and four assists per game across 39 games. Greene shot 46 percent from the field, 40 percent from behind the 3-point arch and 80 percent from the foul line. Jordon Granger played in 32 games at McClure North High and averaged 14.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.9 blocks in his senior season.

We will take a closer look at the returning players and the projected starters tomorrow. Stay tuned, and War Eagle!