AUBURN, Ala. – When Auburn takes the court against Eckerd College on Friday night, it will be the first time playing in front of the fans at Auburn Arena since the Tigers took down No. 5 Tennessee, 84-80, in the regular-season finale on March 9.
Though it's only an exhibition game, it will still be Auburn's first true game action since April when the team played in the Final Four.
"It's been a long summer," senior big man Anfernee McLemore said. "A lot of training. I'm just happy to get back out there with the guys. For the seniors, it's our last go-around. For the freshmen, it's a new start at a new school."
"I'm just excited to see how pumped the fans are going to be knowing that we just came back from making history and a Final Four run," added fellow senior J'Von McCormick.
Unlike in years past, the Tigers won't have Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke at their disposal Friday. The same goes for Horace Spencer and Malik Dunbar. All five have moved on and are playing professionally. However, that means bigger roles for guys like McCormick and McLemore as well as the other seniors – Samir Doughy, Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley.
Friday night's exhibition will also mark the debut for a number of freshmen and newcomers, including Isaac Okoro – the most decorated recruit in Auburn's 2019 class.
"Isaac is going to be a good guy this year, one of our better players," McLemore said. "The other guys like Stretch (Babatunde Akingbola) and Jaylin (Williams) – they just play hard. All the (new) guys play hard and are just happy to be here and happy to help Auburn win."
Coming off a historic season and the first Final Four in program history, there will be some noticeable changes when the fans return to Auburn Arena on Friday. For starters, there's now a giant Final Four banner hanging outside the arena.
Head coach Bruce Pearl saw it for the first time when he arrived for practice Thursday.
"Wow. That's awesome," he said. "We'll see that from the football stadium on Saturday night. You've now got Charles Barkley and a Final Four banner sitting out in front of our building at Auburn Arena. I'm proud. I am so proud of that."
The Tigers will face an Eckerd College team that has won 91 games over the last four years and made three trips to the Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.
There will not be a live video stream, but Andy Burcham and Sonny Smith will have the radio call on 93.9 Tiger FM, online at www.AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app. Standing room only tickets are still available to the public at $15 apiece.