‘Always be thankful’: Auburn alum KT Harrell reaches Final Four

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Katie Stratman

AUBURN, Ala. – For Auburn basketball fans looking to choose a team to root for in the Final Four this weekend, look no further than Florida Atlantic. 

Outside of the obvious Cinderella story – Florida Atlantic is a No. 9 seed who had never won a game in the NCAA Tournament until this year – the Owls also have a former Auburn Tiger on the bench in KT Harrell, the team's Director of Basketball Operations. 

"You've got one of your own in the Final Four," Harrell said. "On top of that, how this team plays, how they love each other, how they care for each other. It's a fun group to watch, and their passion and how much they care about each other and how much they care about the game of basketball is reason enough (to pull for FAU)."

Harrell played two seasons at Auburn after transferring from Virginia. His senior year in 2014-15, Bruce Pearl's first season on the Plains, he led the Southeastern Conference in total points (648) and points per game (18.5) and earned Second Team All-SEC honors. 

After playing overseas professionally in Belgium, Italy and Turkey, Harrell returned to Auburn in 2020 as a graduate assistant on Pearl's staff. He served in that role for two seasons and was part of last year's team that won the SEC regular season championship and ascended to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in program history. 



Having both played and coached under Pearl, Harrell credits his former boss for helping him become a better player, a better coach and a better person. 

"Playing for BP was great for me because of how passionate he was," Harrell said. "He's one of the hardest working coaches I've been around. He was always the first one in the building, last one to leave, so that approach helped me a lot and my game. 

"And then working for him was the same way. He helped me get my foot in the door, which I'm extremely thankful for. Just seeing his work ethic and behind the scenes what it took for him to be a great coach. To see that day in and day out, it helped me realize what I wanted to do and what type of coach I wanted to be and continue to give everything I could for whatever program I was working for, whether it be Auburn or FAU." 

Last weekend, while Florida Atlantic was busy taking down Tennessee and Kansas State to make the Final Four, Harrell received a text from Pearl.  

 "That was huge coming from him," Harrell said. "He helped me get my foot in the door. Just getting that recognition from him, saying that he was proud of me, it was huge."

Pearl's text wasn't the only one Harrell received from a 334-area code. He's been flooded with texts and calls from people back in Auburn over the last week. 

"It's been hard to try to reach out to everybody, but I'm very thankful," Harrell said. "I'll always be thankful. Auburn will always be home for me. It's special to get that love."

Harrell and his Florida Atlantic team will tip off at 5:09 p.m. CT on Saturday against San Diego State in the first of two Final Four games. The winner will move on to play for a national championship on Monday night. 

Auburn fans planning to tune in, you've got a team to pull for now.