Jaylin Williams made history at Auburn — and he did it his way.

The fifth-year senior will play in his final home game Saturday, as his one-of-a-kind career approaches a potentially exciting conclusion.

PF Jaylin Williams (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

On Saturday evening, for the final time, these words will echo through Neville Arena:

“Starting at forward, a 6-foot-8 senior from Nahunta, Georgia… number two… Jaylinnnnnnnnn… Williams!”

A couple of minutes later, the even-keeled, sometimes-nonchalant power forward estimates that the reality will set in: This is it. This is his last home game at Auburn.

“For me, it's like another game, like I'm gonna play here next week,” Williams said Friday, a little more than 24 hours before the Tigers’ regular-season finale against rival Georgia. “It hasn't really hit me. I feel like Saturday, when the jump ball happens, it's gonna really hit.”

Williams won’t go through the traditional Senior Night recognition that teammates Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, K.D. Johnson, Chris Moore, Jalen Harper and Carter Sobera will have.

That’s because he did that last year, before deciding he would take a free fifth season of eligibility from the NCAA as one of the players who went through a COVID-affected campaign.

Over on the sidelines, Bruce Pearl wouldn’t have expected Williams to be there — not this deep into his basketball career, not in this transfer-heavy era of college ball.

“I don't know if I would've anticipated Jaylin being a five-year guy,” Pearl said Friday.

That’s because of what Pearl saw four years ago, when Williams was a true freshman on a veteran-laden team that finished second in the SEC regular-season standings.

That 2019-20 Tigers squad had Danjel Purifoy at power forward. It had one-and-done standout Isaac Okoro, who could switch into that role in a small-ball lineup. It also had both Austin Wiley and Anfernee McLemore down low.

Their presence made it difficult for Williams to get playing time. He played just 100 minutes in 14 games as a true freshman, only jumping into the rotation late in the season after Purifoy and Okoro both missed games due to injury.

But it didn’t take long for Pearl to know what he had in Williams, a 4-star prospect who Auburn beat Georgia for in the 2019 class.

The stats at Brantley County High School were eye-popping enough. He averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds for the awesomely named Herons.

Williams also, in a rarity for an SEC-caliber basketball prospect, lettered in football in high school. His film as a 6-foot-8 wide receiver is worth the watch:

The tape, in either sport, didn’t lie: Williams was quite the athlete.

“I thought that he could come in and be successful as a freshman — because he was bouncy and could do things inside and out,” Pearl said. “But his freshman year, he came into a veteran team. It really wasn't until Danjel or Isaac had an injury where he was getting some significant minutes as a freshman.

“And then you went, ‘Uh oh. This guy is going to be really good.’”

Williams’ chance to shine in the postseason — like it was for everybody else on an Auburn team that regained momentum at just the right time — ended before it even began due to the COVID outbreak.

A season later, Williams had to grind it out on a Tigers squad affected by injuries, eligibility issues for 5-star point guard Sharife Cooper and a self-imposed postseason ban. On a team that finished with a losing record, Williams was arguably the team’s MVP, posting strong two-way stats in a breakout sophomore season.

But Williams soon had to learn how to play off the bench again, as 5-star power forward Jabari Smith joined the squad with elite North Carolina transfer big man Walker Kessler. Williams could have easily saw the writing on the wall and decided to transfer to a program where he could be a massive star.

Instead, Williams stayed. His minutes and, subsequently, his stats were cut in half. Yet he still played a role on a team that rose all the way to No. 1 in the country and won an outright SEC regular-season championship.

“I honestly think part of it is the way Jaylin Williams was built,” Pearl said with a smile Friday. “He's not in a rush. He loved his time at Auburn. And Auburn loved Jaylin Williams' time at Auburn.”