Defending NCAA champ Auburn without two stars for heavyweight battle in Hawaii
The defending NCAA champions will look a little different when they begin their spring season in Hawaii.
The Auburn Tigers, who beat Florida State in last year's NCAA final to capture the program's first national championship, won't have star players Brendan Valdes and Josiah Gilbert in the starting lineup – or on the travel roster for that matter – for the upcoming Amer Ari Invitational, which starts Thursday at Mauna Lani Resort in Waimea.
Valdes, a first-team All-American last season and currently the 25th-ranked individual in the country, underwent a minor surgery in November, according to Auburn head coach Nick Clinard, and isn't expected back until later this month. Gilbert, Auburn's top-ranked player in the fall at No. 8 nationally, didn't qualify for the starting five or the lone individual spot.
'You have to earn everything in life, that's the message to the team,' Clinard added.
Auburn, ranked third as a team, will start reigning Haskins Award winner Jackson Koivun alongside Carson Bacha, Cayden Pope, Ryan Eshleman and Reed Lotter. Billy Davis will be the indy.
Also in the field is No. 2 Arizona State, which is down U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester, who is teeing it up in this week's WM Phoenix Open instead. No. 5 Texas, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 13 UCLA, No. 17 Pepperdine and No. 22 Texas Tech are the other top-25 programs in the field, which since its inaugural event in 1992 has been one of the toughest of the regular season.
Past individual winners of the Amer Ari include Georgia Tech's Matt Kuchar (twice), Oklahoma's Anthony Kim, Washington's C.T. Pan, Oregon's Aaron Wise and Oklahoma State's Matthew Wolff.
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