AUBURN, Ala. – Four years ago, Auburn finished 11-20 in the regular season. It was a program that hadn't been to the NCAA tournament since the 2002-03 campaign. And yet, it was that same year that second-year head coach Bruce Pearl started recruiting Sharife Cooper.
Pearl still remembers the first time he saw Cooper in person. He wasn't a five-star then. He didn't have all the offers yet. But nobody needed to talk Pearl into recruiting him.
"He was itty bitty, but he was slippery," Pearl said. "I looked at him right away and said, 'There's the next Jared Harper.' It became real fashionable to recruit Sharife Cooper two years ago, but it wasn't four years ago when he was undersized."
Later that same year, Pearl saw Justin Powell, a sharp-shooter from Kentucky, and knew he wanted to Powell to play for Auburn one day. The recruitment of Chris Moore came later when Wes Flanigan was hired as an assistant, but Flanigan had already laid the groundwork having known Moore from his time at Arkansas Little-Rock.
At the time, nobody knew that Auburn would win the SEC championship in back-to-back years or make the first Final Four in program history, but it was that work put in by the coaches before the on-court success that paved the way for all three players to sign with the Tigers last week.
"While everybody wants to look at the Final Four or the league championships the last couple of years and say that's the reason, it really isn't," Pearl said. "It's just good, old-fashioned hard work, getting in early and doing your job. That's what I want to give my assistant coaches credit for.
"Does it help the fact that we've had more success the last couple years with the actual signing of documents? Yes, it probably does. It probably finishes the job. For that, I'm grateful for everybody – all my former players and staff and our fanbase for helping us."
Ranked top-20 nationally by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports, Cooper is the gem of the class to this point. The consensus five-star recruit is the highest-rated prospect to ever sign with Auburn, and he has the chance to be only the school's third McDonald's All-American in history.
"We told you that Jared Harper was going to be worth the price of admission. You can say that again when it comes to Sharife Cooper," Pearl said. "He and his family appreciate that we were first and really truly believed in him. He's special, he's unique, he's rare. He's a great competitor. All he wants to do is win. He makes everybody else around him better."
For Powell, the No. 1 player in the state of Kentucky, Auburn was the first school to offer a scholarship. Pearl still remembers chasing him around remote gyms when he was just a freshman and sophomore. Three years later, he's a top-100 player nationally per ESPN.
"You're going to recognize what a great shooter he is," Pearl said. "He can make it from Kentucky with the baskets in Auburn. If he can see it, he can make it. He's a great shooter.
"The thing I love about him is he really wants to be a complete player. He's worked on his body, his speed and his quickness. He has the discipline, work ethic and recognition of his great skill, but he also the desire to be a more complete player. He's a great competitor."
Auburn might not have been the first school to offer Moore, but it was the first school he took an official visit to. That official visit two years ago is when both he and his family fell in love with the place. It played a big role in his decision to sign with the Tigers.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward is ranked in the top 150 on both Rivals and 247 Sports.
"Chris is such a matchup nightmare for the opponent," Pearl said. "Like Isaac Okoro, he can guard 1 through 5. He's physically tough. He's a great competitor. If you want to use Chris Moore as the brand of Auburn basketball, I'd be fine with that. He can put the ball down on the floor and create off the bounce. He gives you great versatility."
Three players. Three different backgrounds. But the one common thread between all three is that Auburn sought them out early in the process, and it resulted in a top-10 recruiting class.