AUBURN, Ala. – When Auburn matched up with No. 1 Gonzaga in the second game of the season, it did not go in favor of the Tigers. But while they might have lost to the eventual national runners-up, that game served as a coming-out party for Allen Flanigan.
The sophomore wing scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and shot 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.
"After the Gonzaga game, knowing they were the No. 1 team and just having my way with them in that second half, it gave me a confidence boost that I can really play with anybody in the country," Flanigan said.
The performance wasn't a fluke. Flanigan, who scored in double figures just once as a freshman, finished his sophomore campaign with 22 games in double figures. He led the team in total points (385) and total rebounds (149) and was the only SEC guard to rank top 15 in both points and rebounds per game in conference play.
With the team's top six scorers gone from the season before, Auburn needed somebody to step up and fill the void. Flanigan proved to be that and more for the Tigers.
"It was really just knowing we needed leaders," he said. "We needed people to step up knowing that we lost guys like Samir (Doughty) and Isaac (Okoro) who were scoring the ball a lot. It was just knowing I had to fill in the pieces. And then working on my game all summer, getting up shots, it gave me the confidence level to take shots and not worry about the misses."
As Flanigan prepares for his junior season, the notion around him has changed dramatically. A three-star prospect coming out of high school, he went from a relative unknown a year ago and developed into someone who is being talked about as one of the top returning players in the SEC and a potential first-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
Internally, it hasn't changed anything. If anything, it's reason to work even harder.
"Knowing I had a big year, coming back I want to be better," Flanigan said. "I want to do things at a higher pace, at a better level and succeed more. I want to win games. So the mentality now is just doing what I have to do for the team and for us to win games."
BY THE NUMBERS
11.1: Flanigan went from 3.2 points per game as a freshman to 14.3 points per game as a sophomore. The 11.1 increase in points per game was tops by any player in the SEC, making him the most improved scorer in the conference. He also raised his rebounding efforts from 2.7 to 5.5 boards per game and dished out 78 assists, 67 more than the season before.
3: Only three players in the SEC averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Florida's Tre Mann, LSU's Trendon Watford and Auburn's Flanigan. Mann and Watford are both projected to be selected in next month's NBA Draft.
22: Flanigan showed consistency last season, scoring in double figures in 22 of the team's 27 games, but he also played his best basketball in the biggest moments. He scored 20 or more points six times – Gonzaga, twice against Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi State and South Carolina. Auburn won four of the six games.
COACHES' CORNER WITH STEVEN PEARL
Q: How did you see Allen grow from his freshman to sophomore year?
A: I think the biggest thing with Al is it was just a mindset change. Seeing Isaac get drafted in the top five made himself kind of take a step back and look at himself and be like, 'Why can't I do that?'" They have very similar body types, very similar builds. Al probably has a little more to his game offensively than Isaac did. The thing that separated Isaac was defensively, he was one of the best in the country. The second piece to that with Al is just his work ethic last summer during COVID when he was having to find ways to get into gyms and finding ways on his own to work out and lift and just do all those things – it really separated him and I think it was what made such a big difference in how successful he was last year.
Q: What's the ceiling for Allen and what does he have to do to get there?
A: The ceiling is whatever Al wants it to be. Physically, he's already NBA-ready because he has the body. That's one of the biggest things where some guys might struggle with their transition. Look at Isaac. He had the body to play in the NBA, and he led the league in minutes per game for rookies. I think the biggest thing for Al is defensively. He's got to be able to guard 1 through 5. He's got to become our best defender. One of the biggest things those guys in the NBA look for is how well do they guard at all five positions because there's a ton of switching in the NBA. Al has to take that next step on the defensive end.