Men’s College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Auburn Tigers

The SEC is loaded this year as most teams used the transfer portal to their advantage and shored up their talent as well as their depth. Teams like Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn built elite freshman classes while LSU, Arkansas (as usual) and Florida made key additions via the portal.

SEC slates are going to be high scoring and mega exciting all year long. For DFS players this is the conference that will command your attention, so keep that at the top of your mind as we go team-by-team through the SEC to preview the coming season.

In this one, Auburn.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Auburn Tigers 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 13-14 (7-11 SEC), 11th in SEC
Postseason: None

Key Departures | Auburn Tigers

• Sharife Cooper (NBA draftee)
• Justin Powell (transferred to Tennessee)
• Jamal Johnson (transferred to UAB)
• JT Thor (playing professionally)

Key Additions | Auburn Tigers

• Walker Kessler (transferred from UNC)
• KD Johnson (transferred from Georgia)
• Wendell Green (transferred from EKU)
• Zep Jasper (transferred from Charleston)
• Jabari Smith (top 10 recruit)

Returners | Auburn Tigers

• Devan Cambridge (8.9 PPG/3.6 RPG)
• Allen Flanigan (14.3 PPG/5.5 RPG/2.9 APG)
• Jaylin Williams (10.9 PPG/4.7 RPG/1.4 BPG)
• Dylan Cardwell (3.8 PPG/3.6 RPG)

Auburn Tigers Outlook for 2021-2022

Say what you will about Bruce Pearl, but the guy knows basketball and does a fantastic job of bringing talent in yearly. Losing all-world PG Sharife Cooper and the mega-athletic JT Thor is tough, but I believe they’ve done more than enough to cover those losses.

Injuries and turnovers were two issues that came up repeatedly last year. The injuries led to guys playing out of position, which led to the lack of ball control. That should be fixed this year as Auburn was able to reload from the transfer portal while adding a top-10 recruit. Unfortunately, they will be without Allen Flanigan for a month or two after he underwent a surgical procedure. 

The main returners after Flanny are Devan Cambridge and Jaylin Williams. Two players who should be fairly productive with another year under their belts. Jaylin Williams shot roughly 35% from long range on 94 attempts and has the green light within this offense to fire away. He proved to be an effective finisher at the rim as the year went on and his 6-foot-8 frame is hard for any defender to contain.

Jabari Smith was the crown jewel of the class for Bruce Pearl and his staff. He is a 6-foot-10 kid with plenty of range so he will thrive under Pearl’s tutelage. He was placed on the Karl Malone watchlist, which speaks volumes about how the rest of the country views him as well. Walker Kessler was stuck in the Roy Williams “two big” system last year, which stunted his upside, but whenever he was given extended minutes, he made them count. Walker excels in the fast break for a player his size and the Auburn system couldn’t be a more perfect fit. KD Johnson and Wendell Green are walking buckets that were quite comfortable in high tempo situations. KD spent a year at Georgia in 2020, so he will step right into a large role at Auburn without missing a beat. Wendell Green is making the move to the SEC from EKU so there could be a bit of a learning curve there. He is still young with lots of untapped potential, so I have no doubt that he ends up being a stud eventually.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

The SEC is full of fast-paced teams that will score in bunches, and Auburn is no different. Last year, their transition defense was awful, and they’ve added some players that should help with that. Losing Allen Flanigan for a month or two will sting initially but this team has plenty of guard depth to cover for his absence. There is some serious talent on this team that will be key DFS pieces throughout the year. Walker Kessler, Jabari Smith and KD Johnson have a chance to be special.