Basketball Recruiting Recap: A Boom!!!! A Big Announcement, and more!

If you’re like me, you’re still probably recovering from what happened in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon but nevertheless, the show must goes on. On Thursday, I wrote about a couple of basketball recruits that were making their way to Auburn this past weekend for their official visits. So today, we’re going to talk a little bit about how the weekend went for Auburn and we’ll start with:

A BOOM!!!!

Auburn received their 4th commitment for the Class of 2019 when Power Forward Jaylin Williams, from Nahunta, Georgia, committed to play for the Tigers while on his official visit to the Plains this weekend. Williams is a versatile forward who looks to fit Auburn’s system quite well and has been targeted by Auburn coaches for awhile. Williams joins fellow Georgians Babatunde “Stretch” Akingbola and Isaac Okoro along with Arkansas forward Allen Flanigan as players committed to Auburn Basketball beginning in the 2019-2020 season.

Williams commitment is another win for Bruce Pearl as he continues to bring in talented basketball players from the state of Georgia. According to 24/7, Williams is the 6th best prospect coming out of Georgia next year and with his commitment, Auburn moved from 8th to 5th in the recruiting rankings for 2019. War Eagle Jaylin and welcome to the Auburn family!

As for the other players who visited:

Tyrell Jones, a combo guard from Orlando, made his official visit this weekend. He left Auburn without committing and is visiting Ole Miss and Louisville soon. Auburn was his first official visit and while Auburn still looks to be the favorites for Jones, many schools have recently began recruiting Jones heavily so I would imagine it will be awhile before we get a decision from Jones.

As for the third player scheduled to officially visit Auburn this weekend, Ismael Massoud, it is my understanding that he did not make the trip. While I never heard an official reason why, Auburn looks pretty set at forward with Williams becoming the 3rd forward to commit to next year’s class (Akingbola, Okoro) in addition to what is already on the Auburn roster.

Now for the huge announcement, take it away Bruce!

Basketball Being Played at Toomer’s Corner?

This is happening! I heard this was in the works several weeks ago and Saturday was the announcement that I’ve been waiting to confirm it. Bruce Pearl announced during the 1st Quarter of the Auburn-LSU football game that the basketball team will hold an outdoor practice at Toomers Corner to kick off the 2018-2019 basketball season. This will take place at a time to be announced on Thursday, October 11th. (FWIW, the Thursday before the Tennessee game so come to town early football fans!) Logistically, this was the best time to hold this event as no classes are being held on the 11th and 12th for Fall Break. It will be the first preseason event (non-game) that Auburn has held since before the 2015-2016 season. Pearl hosted Pearl Jam the first 2 seasons he was at Auburn but this is taking Pearl Jam to a whole new level. It will be the fans first chance to see the team in action and what a phenomenal idea to hold this event at the epicenter of downtown Auburn. Can’t wait for this event!!

Number Changes

As I was perusing over the basketball roster that Auburn Basketball has released for this upcoming season, I noticed that there are several players that will be wearing different numbers this season.

Most noticeably, Chuma Okeke will now wear #5, the former number of Mustapha Heron. Malik Dunbar will change from #14 to Okeke’s old number, #4. Samir Doughty, the VCU transfer, will wear #10 formerly worn by the departed Davion Mitchell. And finally, newcomer J’Von McCormick, will wear #12. Todays marks Austin Wiley Number of Days (50) until Tip-Off on November 6th! We’ve got a lot of more basketball content heading your way as we get closer to the season. War Eagle!!