With Pettiford and Overton, Auburn has a proven backcourt to begin Year 2 for Steven Pearl

Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton return and give the Tigers a proven backcourt — a solid starting point for coach Steven Pearl’s second season on the Plains. Auburn lost eight of its final 10 regular-season games and missed the NCAA Tournament despite having resume-boosting wins against Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky and Texas. They regrouped to win the NIT championship in April. Pearl needs to replace Keyshawn Hall, who led the team in scoring (19.3 points) and rebounding (7.1 boards) last season.

Auburn’s offense will run through Pettiford, who averaged 15.4 points and 3.8 assists as a sophomore last season. His 3-point shooting — he hit 29% from beyond the arc — needs to improve.

Overton was Auburn’s most consistent player last season, averaging 14.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals. He scored in double figures 27 times and was named the most outstanding player of the NIT Tournament. He also led the team in 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

Narcisse Ngoy and Bukky Oboye, both 7-footers, could give the Tigers an inside presence they missed last season. Ngoy was the 57th pick in the NBA draft in June. He averaged 10.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks last season in a second-tier French professional basketball league. Oboye averaged 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks a game for Santa Clara last season.

Hall, Elyjah Freeman (Texas), Filip Jovic (UCLA) and Sebastian Williams-Adams (Vanderbilt) transferred out, and Pearl mostly turned to mid-major programs to find replacements.

Thomas Dowd (Troy), Owen Freeman (Creighton), George Kimball III (Vanderbilt), Oboye (Santa Clara) and Adam Olsen (South Alabama) joined the Tigers in the offseason. Freeman was named the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year at Iowa. He missed time as a sophomore following finger surgery and then missed time at Creighton last season.

The Tigers will get an early test when they host No. 5 Arizona on Nov. 13. They also face West Virginia and No. 17 Kansas or UNLV in Las Vegas, play at Clemson and take on Wisconsin in Nashville, Tennessee, in mid-December.

Auburn was picked by league media to finish 10th in the SEC. Pettiford and Overton were mostly a two-man show in Auburn’s preseason scrimmage against Florida State, an 82-71 loss. The duo combined for 30 points on 9-of-33 shooting, including 6 of 21 from behind the arc. … Auburn is trying to become the first NIT champion to win the NCAA Tournament the following year.

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