What could Year 2 look like for Chaney Johnson at Auburn?

The Division II transfer forward showed flashes, then came on strong to finish his first campaign. Now it's his turn to step into the spotlight.

PF Chaney Johnson (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

You can tell that Bruce Pearl takes great pride in finding talent in places where others might not always look.

Auburn basketball’s road from irrelevance to championships over the last decade is littered with players who were standouts in high school — such as Jabari Smith, Walker Kessler, Mustapha Heron, Isaac Okoro, Austin Wiley and Chuma Okeke.

But there are other stars like record-breaking shooter Bryce Brown, who didn’t have another power-conference offer out of high school. Famed backcourt partner Jared Harper only had a couple of those schools after him. Johni Broome started at Morehead State and turned into an All-American at Auburn. Samir Doughty and Wendell Green Jr. became All-SEC players after starting at the mid-majors.

So you probably can visualize the smile on Pearl’s face a while back when he was asked about Chaney Johnson, who he took from Division II to the SEC a year ago this week.

“Chaney Johnson is a Division II player — one of the better players in Division II, and he is going to be one of the better players in our league this year or next,” Pearl said.

To be clear, Pearl said that before Johnson had even played a single minute of competitive basketball at Auburn. The question came at SEC Media Days last October.

Statistically speaking, Johnson wasn’t one of the better players in the SEC this past season. He didn’t have much of a chance to do so, as he was the primary backup to Jaylin Williams at power forward.

Williams took full advantage of his fifth and final season of college basketball, turning into one of the country’s most efficient overall players. He was a massive difference-maker between winning and losing for the Tigers, who finished 27-8 and claimed an SEC Tournament title before their shock exit in March Madness.

A quick glance at Johnson’s final stats won’t blow you away. He averaged 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He shot just 27.3% from 3-point range on the season and settled at 73.4% from the free-throw line. Among Auburn’s regular rotation players, Johnson’s PER was only ahead of Aden Holloway and Chris Moore.

Yet those numbers don’t tell the whole story for Johnson, because anyone who watched Auburn closely last season could tell you that a switch flipped for the Division II transfer toward the end of the campaign.

And, with the way Auburn’s roster is shaping up for a potential championship-contending 2024-25 season, that late surge could make a huge difference in Year 2.