AUBURN, Ala. – It's been two weeks since the last SEC college basketball game was played. Auburn's players have all returned to their respective homes where head coach Bruce Pearl has asked them to take care of their business and be mindful of the current situation with COVID-19.
Instead of practicing in-bounds plays, the Tigers are practicing social distancing.
The finality of the season and the way it ended still stings. At this time last year, Auburn was preparing for the Sweet 16, and this year's team showed time and again this season that it was capable of making its own run in the NCAA Tournament.
That run will never happen.
"We certainly were in position to be competitive in postseason play, and I can tell you that our seniors were extremely disappointed," Pearl said. "But they've got it in perspective because as you look around and you see people that are out of work, businesses that are failing, real serious health issues, particularly in urban areas – none of our guys are complaining."
Regardless of how the season ended, nobody can take away what this group accomplished. Led by five seniors who were all adjusting to new roles and a star freshman in Isaac Okoro, the Tigers went 25-6 in the regular season, topping last year's mark. They finished second in the SEC at 12-6 and were poised to make the Big Dance for the third straight year.
"I am extremely proud of this group for finishing in second place because the league was so good," Pearl said. "I felt like this was a team that could finish in the top five. I talked about fourth or fifth, which was about where we were picked. To finish higher than we were picked and be within range of the champion, I was very pleased.
"These kids really cared. They grinded. They won five overtime games. I'm proud of them for the way they competed and the way they grinded and especially with a roster that was a lot of seniors that played supporting cast roles the year before and played dominant roles."
What would Auburn do without Jared Harper and Bryce Brown? J'Von McCormick and Samir Doughty answered that, forming one of the top backcourt tandems in the SEC.
How would the Tigers replace Chuma Okeke? It took a collective effort, but Danjel Purifoy and Anfernee McLemore both stepped up and filled in admirably. A healthy Austin Wiley also proved just how dominant he could be, finishing second in the SEC in rebounding.
Okoro was the most notable freshman, starting in all but four games and earning Second Team All-SEC honors as well as making the SEC's All-Freshman Team and All-Defensive Team, but Auburn received contributions from fellow freshmen Devan Cambridge, Allen Flanigan and toward the end of the year, Jaylin Williams.
It was never going to be easy to follow the team that made the first Final Four appearance in program history, but this team – though they never got the opportunity to win any championships or cut down any nets in the postseason – they left their mark on Auburn basketball.
"The last two weeks we've seen dramatic changes and how something like a pandemic can affect the entire world," Pearl said. "We're trying to be safe, trying to be healthy, trying to do the right things so we can get through this, and then come out on the other side somehow better off, wiser and having us all return to some form of our normal lives.
"I think it gives you great appreciation for the moment in the sense that you never know when that moment's not going to be available to you."
"There's no question we've got special." - @CoachBrucePearl#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/PEDbbknof0
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 24, 2020