Observations: What we learned from the first day of Auburn basketball practice

The Tigers have been hard at work for a while, but the first official day of practices was still important for Bruce Pearl and his team.

Bruce Pearl said it Monday. A day later, just before the start of the first official practice of the season, Devan Cambridge said it as well.

This Auburn basketball team is the hardest-working one they’ve seen.

“Everybody pushes everybody to be better every day,” Cambridge said.

And it’s going to take a lot of that work, hard work, for the Tigers to get all they want accomplished ahead of the 2021-22 season, which starts Nov. 9 with a home game against Morehead State.

Auburn has five newcomers on its roster — unanimous top-five recruit Jabari Smith, former 5-star North Carolina center Walker Kessler, Georgia transfer K.D. Johnson, Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green Jr. and Charleston transfer Zep Jasper.

All five will play important roles for the Tigers this season. And Pearl admits that Auburn could have a brand-new starting five, especially with returning scoring leader Allen Flanigan out until mid-December with a non-basketball Achilles injury.

“Our greatest strength is our depth,” …