AUBURN, Ala. – Head Coach Bruce Pearl and his coaching staff have inked yet another five-star recruit as Tahaad Pettiford signed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Tigers on Wednesday.
Pettiford, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound guard out of Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, N.J., burst onto the scene over the summer as one of the best scoring guards in the country.
Rated the No. 2 point guard and No. 21 overall player in the Class of 2024 by 247 Sports, Pettiford played AAU basketball for New Heights Lightning on the EYBL circuit, shooting 33.5 percent from the 3-point line and averaging 13.3 points per game.
"Tahaad is a very unique player," Pearl said. "He is a gifted scorer with an unlimited range. Instant offense. He has tremendous speed, quickness and athletic jumping ability. Tahaad is a very tough cover and uses that athleticism to be a pest defensively.
"(Assistant Coach) Ira Bowman did a tremendous job of identifying Tahaad very early on in the recruiting process and developed a close, trusting relationship. Tahaad will have a Pied Piper effect on our program. Guys will want to play with him."
During his junior season, Pettiford averaged 17.0 points per game for Hudson Catholic and was invited to participate in USA Basketball's Junior National Team Minicamp in October 2022. He is the son of Travis Pettiford and Tia Taylor Finch.
The Tigers have now signed one of the nation's top point guards in back-to-back years with five-star Aden Holloway currently a freshman on the team's roster.
