AUBURN, Ala. – When you walk into the men's basketball locker room at Auburn, there's a sign that reads, "Make History." It's one of the first things you see, and it's been one of the calling cards for Bruce Pearl since he arrived as head coach.
Win an SEC championship: Check
Win the SEC tournament: Check
Make the Final Four: Check
Ascend to No. 1 in the polls: Check
The Tiger have accomplished all that under Pearl in the past five years, including a regular season SEC title and the first No. 1 ranking in program history this past year.
On Thursday night, Auburn has a chance to make more history with Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler in the NBA Draft. Smith could go No. 1 overall, becoming the first player in program history to do so, and if Kessler goes in the first round as well, the Tigers will have two first-round picks in the same draft for the first time ever.
"I wanted guys to come to Auburn to try to add to that history," Pearl said. "Butch Thompson won a game in the College World Series against Stanford. That's historical. Winning championships, like this team did in 2022, is historical. Being No. 1 in the country and quite frankly being the best team in college basketball for about a month and a half is historical. And then getting Jabari and Walker to go in the first round, if that does happen.
"It's what we're here to do," added Pearl. "We're here to win championships, and we're here to get the guys from here to there at Auburn. That's what our job is. And there's no better way of getting from here to there than to win a championship, get drafted and sign a contract."
Under Pearl's direction, Auburn has had a player taken in each of the last three NBA Drafts. Chuma Okeke went No. 16 overall to the Orlando Magic in 2019. Isaac Okoro was drafted fifth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020. And last year, both JT Thor and Sharife Cooper were taken in the second round.
Prior to Okeke in 2019, the last Auburn player to hear his name called in the draft was Jamison Brewer in 2001.
Next in line will be Smith and Kessler.
Smith, a consensus All-American and the SEC Freshman of the Year, averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game and was second on the team with 7.4 rebounds per game. His 79 3-pointers made were a team best and broke the school record for the 3-pointers made by a freshman, a mark previously held by Bryce Brown (78 in 2015-16).
Kessler was named the Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocked shots per game to go along with 11.4 points per contest. His 155 blocks for the season were tops in the nation and set a new Auburn single-season record. He recorded two of the three triple-doubles in program history.
"Those guys are humble, they're hungry, they're both incredibly hard working, and they both love Auburn," Pearl said. "And they loved their time here at Auburn. They're both going to be great ambassadors for Auburn. They both did it the right way. They were great teammates, they wanted to win championships, and they did."
The NBA Draft will begin Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT on ABC and ESPN.
