Latest news with #TahaadPettiford
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Predicting Auburn basketball's starting five after Tahaad Pettiford's return announcement
Predicting Auburn basketball's starting five after Tahaad Pettiford's return announcement Tahaad Pettiford's return is huge for Auburn basketball. Here's a look at how the Tigers could line up next season. Auburn basketball locked in its final roster pieces Wednesday by signing Serbian-born forward Filip Jovic and reeling in Tahaad Pettiford from the NBA draft. The roster moves not only excited the Auburn fan base, but put the finishing touches on the 2025-26 roster. Despite Pettiford's return, Auburn fans will still need to get familiar with the new-look roster, as a bulk of last year's Final Four roster has departed from the team due to either graduation or the transfer portal. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and his staff worked tirelessly to find experienced pieces to fill those gaps this offseason, and managed to put together a solid mix of strong scorers and lockdown defenders. Now that the roster is built, how will the new-look Tigers lineup look next season? Here is our projection for the Auburn Tigers' starting five for the 2024-25 season. Guard 1: Tahaad Pettiford 2024-25 stats: 38 games played | 1 start | 11.6 PPG | 2.2 RPG | 3.0 APG Pettiford's return to Auburn is crucial, as he is the lone piece from Auburn's Final Four team remaining on the roster. Pettiford was a bench piece last season, but will transition easily to the starting point guard role. Reserve: Kaden Magwood Guard 2: Abdul Bashir 2024-25 stats (Casper College): 31 games played | 31 starts | 27.2 PPG | 3.8 RPG | 4.2 APG Bashir joins Auburn's roster as the No. 1 overall JUCO prospect from the 2025 recruiting cycle. He is a proven scoring threat, having reached double digits in points in all but one game last season and scoring 40 points four times. Pearl believes that Bashir will become one of the program's next great shooters and has potential to become a dominant player in orange and blue. Reserve: Kevin Overton Wing: Keyshawn Hall 2024-25 stats (UCF): 33 games played | 33 starts | 18.8 points per game | 7.1 RPG | 2.4 APG Hall led the Big 12 in scoring last season and is looking to bring his high-scoring profile to the SEC. He brings help to the board game as well by logging 6.2 rebounds per game over his three-year career, which included a 7.1 mark last season. Reserve: Sebastian Williams-Adams Forward: Elyjah Freeman 2024-25 stats (Lincoln Memorial): 31 games played | 28 starts | 18.9 PPG | 8.7 RPG | 2.3 APG Freeman has large shoes to fill this season as he is projected to take over the four position that Johni Broome occupied over the last three seasons. Freeman was the second-leading scorer at Lincoln-Memorial last season, but was a worthy defender as well. He pulled down a team-best 197 defensive rebounds per game with 54 steals and 23 blocked shots. Reserve: Filip Jovic Center: Keshawn Murphy 2024-25 stats (Mississippi State): 34 games | 3 starts | 11.7 PPG | 7.4 RPG | 1.6 APG What is meant to be will always find its way. Murphy, a native of Birmingham, was a high-priority target for Bruce Pearl during his high school days and is now a Tiger after joining the roster from the transfer portal last offseason. Murphy brings a 6-10 frame to the center position, as well as a strong scoring a rebounding presence. He has one season of eligibility remaining, which will allow JUCO center Emeka Opurum to develop into the role for next season. Reserve: Emeka Opurum Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Labaron Philon withdraws from NBA Draft, will return to Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — Alabama basketball will be retaining one its key starters as they look to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament next season. On Wednesday, Labaron Philon announced via Instagram that he would be returning to the Capstone for his sophomore season. Tahaad Pettiford withdrawing from NBA draft, returning to Auburn for sophomore season Philon entered the NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility, but after getting a feel for his draft stock, ultimately decided to return. His return boosts Alabama's backcourt which will also include Aden Holloway, Latrell Wrightsell, Jahlil Bethea, Houston Mallette and Davion Hannah. He will be the lone returning starter as Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi all ran out of eligibility. The 6'4″ Mobile native averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 assists, and shot 31.5% from the three-point line in his freshman campaign. He started 29 games while averaging just shy of 25 minutes a game. His career high is 21 points, which he did against Kentucky and South Dakota State. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
BR Mock Draft: Warriors land Serbian big man in second round of latest NBA mock draft
BR Mock Draft: Warriors land Serbian big man in second round of latest NBA mock draft Wednesday marked the final day for early entrants to withdrawal from the NBA draft and return to the college level. With players like Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford, Kentucky's Otega Oweh, Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, Arkansas' Karter Knox and Alabama's Labaron Philon all officially returning to college, the field for the NBA draft is officially set. With the 2025 draft class official, different mock drafts have been released with predictions for what Steve Kerr, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Golden State Warriors what will do in June's draft. While the Warriors don't have a first-round pick, they will be on the clock in the second round with the No. 41 overall pick. In the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman, the Warriors landed an international big man in the second round. With the No. 41 overall pick, Wasserman inked Serbian big man Bogoljub Markovic to the Warriors in the second round. The 19-year-old, 6-foot-11 Serbian played the last three seasons for Mega in the Adriatic Basketball League. In 30 games, Markovic averaged 13.7 points on 53.8% shooting from the field and 37% from beyond the arc to go along with 6.8 boards and 2.7 assists per game. Bogoljub was awarded the ABA League's top prospect award for the 2025 season. Current and former NBA players like Nikpla Jovic, Goga Bitadze, Dario Saric and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic have won the same award in the past. The NBA draft is set to begin on June 25 with the first round at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
7 fascinating players who decided to stay in the 2025 NBA Draft, including Cedric Coward
7 fascinating players who decided to stay in the 2025 NBA Draft, including Cedric Coward Show Caption Hide Caption 2025 NBA Draft Combine winners: Raynaud, Lendeborg and Byrd These 2025 NBA draft prospects are the biggest winners from the NBA Draft Combine The 2025 NBA Draft is less than a month away, and we now know exactly which players are eligible to hear their named called in New York City. Candidates had until May 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET to withdraw from the draft if they wish to play in the NCAA next season. The following players announced their intentions and will thus turn pro rather than use their remaining eligibility. Some of the most intriguing players who originally declared as early candidates but opted to return to school include Yaxel Lendeborg, Tahaad Pettiford, Boogie Fland, Alex Condon, and Miles Byrd. More: 12 players to withdraw from 2025 NBA Draft and return to NCAA, including Tahaad Pettiford The rankings below are based on consensus projections aggregated by our friends at Rookie Scale. Meanwhile, for more prospect coverage, here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win. The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 1. Carter Bryant TEAM: Arizona Wildcats ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 13 2. Thomas Sorber TEAM: Georgetown Hoyas ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 18 3. Cedric Coward TEAM: Duke Blue Devils (via Washington State) ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 30 4. Adou Thiero TEAM: Arkansas Razorbacks ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 32 5. Jamir Watkins TEAM: Transfer Portal (via Florida State) ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 47 6. RJ Luis Jr. TEAM: Transfer Portal (via St. John's) ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 54 More: Rick Pitino had a 7-word explanation for benching RJ Luis in St. John's loss to Arkansas 7. Yanic Konan Niederhäuser TEAM: Penn State Nittany Lions ROOKIE SCALE RANK: 56
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
NBA Draft announcements: Tahaad Pettiford, Otega Oweh headed back to school
May 28 - Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford announced on social media that he is withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to the Tigers for his sophomore season, one of several high-profile players to make a last-minute decision about their draft status on Wednesday. "I'm back," Pettiford said on Instagram. Joining him in returning to school are Kentucky's Otega Oweh and San Diego State's Miles Byrd. Arkansas' Adou Thiero and RJ Luis Jr. of St. John's, however, announced through their agents that they plan to stay in the draft pool, exhausting their collegiate careers. The deadline for players to withdraw from the draft and maintain college eligibility is Wednesday night at 11:59 p.m. ET. As of 7:00 p.m. ET, among top prospects, only Penn State forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser had yet to make a public statement about his intentions. Pettiford was viewed as a second-round pick in this year's draft. He said he plans to boost his stock during a second college season. "I was happy to go through the process, getting feedback from NBA teams," the 6-foot-1 Pettiford told ESPN. "Going back to Auburn is a better situation for me. I see myself being a higher pick next year. It wasn't 100 percent this year, so I didn't want to take that chance. "Being a short guard, it won't be easy to play in the league, but I know I can do it. It's maybe not the right time." Pettiford ranked third on Auburn in scoring at 11.6 points per game despite coming off the bench in 37 of his 38 appearances. He averaged a team-leading 3.0 assists per game and was second on the squad with 70 3-point baskets. Auburn went 32-6 last season and reached the Final Four before losing to eventual national champions Florida 79-73. The 6-4 Oweh, like Pettiford, drastically improves his team's prospects via his 2025-26 return. The junior guard has improved his scoring output in every collegiate season, averaging 16.2 points per game for the 24-12 Wildcats a season ago. He played his first two seasons for Oklahoma before transferring to Kentucky last offseason. He was widely considered a borderline second-rounder. Byrd, a 6-7 wing, has been a member of the Aztecs' NCAA regional semifinalist squad in 2023-24 and their national runners-up team in 2022-23 (both losers to eventual champion UConn). His 2024-25 season was his best individually, as Byrd contributed 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game on the offensive end and added 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game defensively in boosting his evaluation into the second round. "We are very happy to have Miles returning to San Diego State for the 2025-26 season," San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. "It was important that he meet with NBA teams and get their evaluations so he can continue his development in order to be able to fulfill his dream of playing at the next level. As we focus on earning another Mountain West championship in the upcoming season, this experience can only be positive for Miles and the Aztecs." Luis raised eyebrows by declaring for the draft, and will likely raise even more by staying in it, despite his status among draft observers as being a borderline prospect while conversely being highly coveted in the transfer portal. The 6-7 guard led the Red Storm in scoring (18.2 ppg) as they bolted out to a 31-5 (18-2) record in winning the Big East. The Big East Player of the Year was very pointedly benched by coach Rick Pitino, however, late during the team's 75-66 second-round loss to Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament. His shooting, inconsistent at the college level, is considered a big question. On the other hand, flirting with the first round is Thiero, whose mix of size and athleticism makes him a more solid bet to get drafted on June 25. The former Kentucky guard followed John Calipari to Arkansas in 2024 and averaged career highs in points (15.1), rebounds (5.8) and assists (1.9) for the 22-14 Razorbacks. --Field Level Media
