AUBURN, Ala. – Junior point guard Tahaad Pettiford continues to garner national preseason recognition as the Atlanta Tipoff Club has named him to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List on Monday.
This announcement adds to a list of preseason accolades for Pettiford which also includes being named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List and earning All-SEC preseason honors from both the league’s media and coaches.
Pettiford is one of 50 players nation-wide on the watch list and one of 15 from the SEC, who had the most representation of any conference in the country on the Naismith watch list.
Now in his third year on the Plains, Pettiford averaged 15.4 points and 3.8 assists last season. In three exhibition games this season, he averaged 17.0 points and 3.3 assists while score 20 points in two of the three contests.
He enters the season ranked 39th in career scoring at Auburn (1,025) and has 258 career assists.
Pettiford leads the Tigers into the 2026-27 season, which begins this Wednesday at home against Southeastern Louisiana with tip set for 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.