@Aubawn’s AU Basketball Recruiting Notebook: Live period begins w/ multiple ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ visits
September 16, 2019
Jay Phillips
With the live period opening for college basketball, coaches are now able to start actively visiting and recruiting again. The first few days of this period are filled with news about who is recruiting who and can help us identify who Auburn might be prioritizing in the 2020 class, outside of the few we are already aware of like Sharife Cooper and Walker Kessler.
In an effort to do that, this will be an updating list of recruits Auburn coaches are confirmed to visit or already have visited. This doesn’t include the recruits that Auburn is scheduled to host this fall.
Monday, 9/9/19:
Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers and Rivals reported that Bruce Pearl will travel to California to meet with the No. 3 overall prospect in the country for 2020 Jalen Green next Monday (9/16).
That visit is happening today, and Steven Pearl and Ira Bowman are joining Bruce Pearl on his trip to Prolific Prep to meet with the 6-foot-5 combo guard. They are expected to watch the five star practice and then meet with his family afterwards.
It was also reported that Green eliminated Kentucky from his list of final choices and has cancelled his visit to Lexington, so that leaves Penny with Memphis, Bruce with Auburn, and Altman at Oregon as the last men standing for the talented playmaker.
In addition to Green hosting the Pearls and Bowman, he is scheduled to take a visit to The Plains for the weekend of the Mississippi State football game. Fellow five star guard Cam Thomas is also expected to visit, so that is shaping up to be a monumental weekend for the future of Auburn Basketball and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see other names added to the 9/28 visitor list.
Weingarten also reported that Auburn was expected to visit 2021 four star guard JD Davison last Monday.
Corey Evans of Rivals reported that Pearl visited Jabari Smith, a top-10 five star from the class of 2021, last Monday morning.
The consensus No. 1 player in the country for the 2021 class, Jonathan Kuminga actually visited The Plains in September 2018 after Auburn became the second program to extend an offer while he was still just a freshman in high school.
Pearl and staff have continued building a strong bond with Kuminga and even visited the five star small forward last Thursday in New Jersey.
Kuminga and Smith aren’t the only 2021 five stars that Auburn is after as the Tigers also offered AJ Griffin, another top-10 five star recruit from the class.
Auburn fans have never witnessed their program recruit on a national scale like the inroads Pearl and staff have made on the trail in the 2020 and 2021 classes. We as Auburn fans often have to remind ourselves just how far our program has come under the guidance of Bruce Almighty.
And Bruce isn’t the only Auburn coach with connections that are benefitting the Tiger basketball program. AJ Griffin’s father, Adrian Griffin, currently the lead assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors, was a high school teammate of Auburn assistant Ira Bowman.
Bowman’s northeast-connections could be a big deal in 2021.
Corey Evans of Rivals reported that Auburn was visiting Zocko Littleton Jr, a four star guard from the class of 2022 last Monday.
Auburn’s coaching staff, headlined by Bruce and Steven Pearl, capped off a busy Monday with a visit to McEachern High School in Power Springs, Georgia to visit 2020 five star point guard Sharife Cooper, who Auburn fans feel really good about.
Cooper has been Auburn’s top target for years now and the staff is still treating him like it.
McEachern also houses Dylan Cardwell, a borderline top-100 big man who is related to Auburn’s defensive line coach Rodney Garner.
Jordan Meka, a top-200 forward in 2020, also included Auburn in his top-10 on Saturday night.
Kansas, Vanderbilt, UConn, Georgia and others also made his list.
9/10 Tuesday:
Pearl started off Tuesday with a trip to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida to meet with top-50 shooting guard Matt Murrell.
Murrell, along with top-50 big man Cliff Omoruyi, visited Auburn this past weekend for the Kent State football game.
It was also reported that Bruce Pearl, along with Gonzaga’s Mark Few, would be visiting five star forward Walker Kessler last Thursday.
The 6-foot-10 Fairburn, Georgia native is perceived to be the second highest player on Auburn’s 2020 big board, behind Cooper.
Duke and Auburn have been early favorites to land Kessler, but Duke’s full staff was in to see 7-foot big man Mark Williams, a five star center in the class of 2020, last Wednesday.
Duke could land two five star big men and play them side-by-side, or they could land one or even better, neither.
Duke bringing their entire staff to visit a similar prospect shortly after Kessler’s visit could mean that other teams have a chance to make ground or take the lead for Kessler.
That made last week’s visit an important one for Pearl and Auburn’s staff.
Kessler also recently visited Michigan and is scheduled to take a trip to Gonzaga on 10/4.
The 2020 top-15 recruit last visited Auburn for the Fish Fry Weekend back at the end of May, and has taken multiple trips to The Plains with his family in the past—and could do so again in the future—thanks to their proximity to Auburn.
9/11 Wednesday:
Wednesday morning, Adam Zagoria reported that Auburn (along with Michigan) visited Jaemyn Brakefield.
Brakefield took an official visit to Auburn for the football game against Tulane and seemed to enjoy his time on campus. Auburn and Louisville could be the teams to beat here.
9/12 Thursday:
Auburn’s staff visited Kuminga and Kessler on Thursday.
Kuminga is a very highly touted prospect, who has been rumored to be eyeing a reclassification into the 2020 class.
As we mentioned earlier, Kuminga visited Auburn last fall for the football game against LSU.
My thoughts: This was one of the busiest weeks, or maybe the busiest week of off-campus recruiting I have seen Auburn put together.
Pearl made it clear that he would be prioritizing the 2020 class over the 2019 class, and that could pay off if Auburn is able to land any combination of the players listed above.
If Auburn does that, and is able to land multiple five stars in the process, the Tigers could end up with not only one of the best classes in the country, but likely the best class in the history of the program. Pinch yourselves, Auburn fans, because this is real!
