Why is this Bruce Pearl's closest team? Let the Tigers tell you themselves.
From the summer breakfasts to a road trip that changed everything, this is how Auburn basketball became a brotherhood.
PF Chaney Johnson and SF Chad Baker-Mazara (SEC/Instagram)
This Auburn basketball team is one-of-a-kind.
No major conference program relies on the bench more than the Tigers. They share the ball better than almost everybody else, ranking sixth nationally in assists per game. They stay connected in an elite defense that leads all of Division I in effective field goal percentage allowed.
Auburn improved its win total from last season by seven games and has recorded all but one of its 27 victories by double-digits. It did so after losing three regular starters. It added a 5-star true freshman, but the other three offseason additions came from a 14-18 FIU team, a Division II program and a junior college.
The Tigers were picked to finish sixth in the SEC but finished tied for second. Then it won the conference tourney in Nashville by recording three straight victories over fellow NCAA Tournament teams by a combined 57 points.
This Auburn basketball team is the ultimate example of a squad being greater than the sum of its parts. The Tigers built, developed and unleashed their roster in their own unique way. Now, they’re entering the Big Dance as one of the hottest teams in America.
And the key reason behind of all of it — even more than the metrics, the Xs and Os or the scouting reports — is the chemistry.
The connection is immediately obvious to anyone who watches the Tigers play a game, go through a practice, talk in an interview session or handle themselves off the court. They genuinely love being a team.
The final moments of Sunday’s SEC Tournament championship game victory over Florida were filled with tears and hugs from an Auburn player roster and a coaching staff that worked together to earn a banner and some championship rings.
Throughout the season — and especially this past weekend — Auburn players and coaches constantly talked about this being the closest team of their basketball careers.
How, exactly, did that come to be? We asked.
The following story is a collection of direct quotes from Bruce Pearl and the players who all played a major role in winning a championship. Here’s the story of how the Tigers got to be this close, in their own words.
(Auburn Basketball/Twitter)
Bruce Pearl: “I’ve never coached a team that got along better than these guys.”
Johni Broome: “We’re playing for a coach, BP, the staff we have, the players that we have, the bonding that we have, the chemistry that we have — it just makes it more special. I wanted (the SEC Tournament title) for myself, but I wanted to see the smiles on my teammates' faces and my coaches' faces, because we worked so hard to be here.”
Bruce Pearl: “The markings of a great program are the character and culture of the players. These guys have been really easy to support, all right? They have been really easy to support. … Part of the reason why I got emotional is I'm just grateful, blessed. I love that about our team and I love that about our guys, right?”
Dylan Cardwell: “Man, we’re just brothers. At the end of the day, we love each other. We're our biggest cheerleaders. No one's upset by anybody else's success. Everyone cheers it on. And so that's what was different from any team of years past.”