AUBURN, Ala. – It's a new season. Expectations are high once again with Auburn ranked No. 15 in the Preseason AP Top 25. But there's one question that keeps getting asked. How are the Tigers going to replace Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler?
It's a fair question considering Smith and Kessler were two of the most decorated players in program history and both first-round draft picks.
"I get it," Auburn point guard Wendell Green Jr. said while at SEC Tipoff last week. "I'm not sick of (getting asked). I would ask those questions if I was in your guys' shoes."
Head coach Bruce Pearl was asked the same question last week in Birmingham.
"The greatest thing about Walker and Jabari is they both were humble and hungry," Pearl responded. "Both just wanted to get better, both wanted to win championships, both wanted to be great teammates. That's all they cared about every day. They were pros, and they were great kids. That's the culture we have."
In terms of replacing the two bigs, Pearl said that Auburn could not have done any better with the additions of Johni Broome and Yohan Traore.
Broome transferred in from Morehead State where he was the OVC Player of the Year last year. Traore was a five-star recruit who hails from France originally. On the team's trip to Israel this summer, Broome averaged 17.7 points per game while Traore posted 16 points per contest, including two games with a team-best 20 points.
Still, it's not realistic to expect the same kind of production from those two alone. Instead, it's going to have to be a collective effort if the Tigers want to make up for the losses of Smith and Kessler and repeat as SEC champions.
"In my mind, it really boils down to how much more did everybody else improve?" asked Pearl. "How much better is Wendell Green and Zep Jasper, K.D. Johnson and Allen Flanigan, Chris Moore and Jaylin Williams, Dylan Cardwell and Babatunde (Akingbola). That's going to be what is going to make up for not having two first-round draft picks."
"Everybody else that won a championship came back," added Green. "We have a championship mindset. We know we have a lot of special players no matter what anybody says."
Green and Johnson both averaged 12 points per game last year. Green was third in the SEC with 5.1 points per game. Flanigan (6.3), Williams (5.6) and Jasper (5.1) all averaged at least five points per game and made significant contributions throughout the season. Moore and Cardwell provided energy off the bench and should see increased playing time this season.
When you throw in newcomers Broome, Traore and freshmen guards Chance Westry and Tre Donaldson, this Auburn team has plenty of talent and plenty of depth.
Just the way Pearl likes it.
"Our basketball team's great strength is I've got 13 really good players," Pearl said. "I really do. There is great competition and depth at every position. If I had to put out a starting five right now, I could tell you that truly there's only one position of the five where I know who's going to start. That means the other four right now are up in the air."
Auburn opens the season Nov. 7 at home against George Mason. There will be no Jabari Smith or Walker Kessler. But the expectation hasn't changed. The Tigers are still taking aim at a second straight SEC regular season title and a deep run come March.
"For my senior year, I want to win," Williams said. "I want to get far in the tournament, and I want to win championships."
"The veterans, we know how to win like that in the season and the progress of doing that every day, taking it one day at a time, one game at a time," Green said. "That's what we did last year, and that's kind of what we want to carry over and do this year."