April 4, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn sophomore guard Mustapha Heron has announced he will test the NBA Draft waters with the intention to sign with an agent. As of Wednesday, he has not signed with an agent, thus maintaining his final two years of eligibility.
"I've decided to test the NBA Draft waters," Heron said. "I have not signed with an agent, but I am planning on going through the process and see where I am at. My intent is to sign with an agent.
"I would like to thank the man upstairs for making all of this possible. I have always dreamed of playing basketball at the highest level and now he is making that a reality for me. I would like to thank my coaches, teammates all the Auburn fans and Auburn University for a wonderful two years. Playing on The Plains was an experience like no other and I wouldn't trade it for the world."
"I'm really excited for Mustapha," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "He came to Auburn to make history and to bring credibility to our program. As a freshman, he was one of the all-time best freshmen ever to play at Auburn. As a sophomore, he became a better defender and leader and he helped Auburn win its third regular season SEC championship in program history.
"At this point, Mustapha has not hired an agent in order to maintain his eligibility. However, he does intend to sign with an agent at some point. His intention is to stay in the draft. We are really excited for him."
The first five-star signee in program history, Heron became the fifth player in the Auburn record books to reach 1,000 career points in two seasons and the 37th player overall.
As a rookie, Heron was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team, becoming the first Tiger since DeWayne Reed in 2008-09 to receive the honor. He was the team's leading scorer at 15.2 points per game and also pulled down 6.1 rebounds per contest.
This past season, Heron was tabbed Second Team All-SEC by the Associated Press after once again leading the team in scoring at 16.4 points per game and guiding the Tigers to their first Southeastern Conference crown since 1999.
Heron also improved on the defensive end of the court, increasing his steals per game from 0.8 to 1.2, which led the Tigers in 2017-18.
Auburn finished the season with a 26-8 overall record and received a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.