BIRMINGHAM – With tipoff coming in about four months, the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team has turned its attention to the 2024-2025 season.
Head coach Bruce Pearl addressed the media prior to the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club's "ambush" event on Tuesday.
Pearl touched on a variety of topics, including the schedule, the team's new roster and how competitive the SEC could be this season.
Pearl talked about how important it was to connect with the Auburn Family and Birmingham and how he is trying to finalize a non-conference matchup at Legacy Arena for this season.
"Since I got to Auburn, I recognized that we have family all over the place," Pearl said. "Family likes when you come visit them in their town. It just means more when we bring Auburn to Birmingham."
"I don't think we're in a position to make any kind of announcement about a game in Birmingham yet, but I can tell you that we got a potential for a big game in Birmingham in December and we're working on it," he added.
Auburn will be taking on the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on December 4. Pearl talked about his excitement for that matchup.
"I think the decision obviously speaks for itself and I've got to be careful what I wish for," Pearl said. "We could literally have four games in a row where we'll be the underdog. I have confidence in my team. We have to prepare ourselves to play in what I think will be the best the SEC has been in a long time."
Pearl talked about what he has seen from summer workouts so far and how the newcomers are fitting in.
"So far it's been good," Pearl said. "The backcourt will look a lot different, we'll obviously have a new point guard. Right now, I've got JP (Pegues), Denver Jones and Tahaad (Pettiford) competing for that position.
"I made a conscious decision to not go and get a high major transfer at the four or five because I just felt like with Chaney (Johnson) and Dylan (Cardwell) and Johni (Broome) all being seniors, I wanted to give those guys the opportunity."
This was Pearl's first time to address the media since signing former Georgia Tech guard Miles Kelly out of the Transfer Portal. Pearl talked about Kelly and what he brings to the team.
"Great kid, hard worker, great family, really good student-athlete," Pearl said. "Carried Georgia Tech to being competitive. Went into the NBA Draft, had a number of really good workouts, impressed a lot of clubs, but probably would not have gotten drafted.
"Miles has got great length. He's got real good field and can really shoot it from great range."
Pearl addressed the elephant in the room: guard Aden Holloway's transfer to Alabama and how it makes the rivalry mean more.
"It'd be like if Auburn's quarterback went and played quarterback for Alabama, what do you think that would do for the Iron Bowl?" Pearl said. "It would make it more interesting and continue to just add to the rivalry."
Auburn's schedule has not been released.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email daniel.locke@1819news.com.
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