Bruce Pearl has a lot of work ahead of him as he enters Year 12 of his incredible tenure, having led Auburn to its second Final Four in program history. Pearl has to replace his entire starting lineup in addition to a large portion of his bench depth due to four graduations and a transfer departure, and a large portion of that reconstruction is taking place in the transfer portal.
Keyshawn Hall, KeShawn Murphy, Kevin Overton, and Elyjah Freeman are the four new players Pearl has already brought on board. Although that group is impressive, mostly consisting of skilled two-way wings, Pearl needs to bolster Murphy’s frontcourt after guiding the program to its most successful season with Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome.
While Cardwell was a long-term developing project in his school and Broome was a former mid-major transfer who Pearl elevated to First-Team All-American, Auburn’s interest in matching Murphy with Texas Tech big man Federiko Federiko is somewhat disappointing.
Auburn among schools interested in Texas Tech transfer Federiko Federiko
Pearl seems eager in luring additional players away from Lubbock after acquiring Overton from Texas Tech this offseason. The Tigers are one of several teams interested in Federiko, according to Joe Tipton of On3.com.
The 6-foot-11 junior, who averaged 5.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game and shot over 75 percent from the floor, only started six games for the Red Raiders last season. It’s amazing how effective they are, but it’s difficult to see Auburn winning the SEC regular season again with two forwards who both came off the bench at their last stop.
Murphy was a considerably more prolific scorer at Mississippi State, averaging 11.7 points per game in 24 minutes per night while shooting 56.6 percent, despite only starting three games. Federiko and Murphy may both thrive with more responsibilities, but it’s surprising that Pearl seems to be looking for deals on transfer portal additions a year after securing the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
While Overton was a valuable starter for Grant McCasland at Texas Tech and Hall is the most proven talent Auburn has added this summer, Federiko and Murphy both came off the bench for teams that were lower tier than the Tigers, and Freeman is moving from Division II to the SEC.
Although Auburn is regarded as the 15th best class in the country, Pearl may rely on his incoming freshmen class, which is full of promising athletes, to maintain his program at the top of the SEC. However, Auburn isn’t exactly recruiting like John Calipari at Arkansas or Jon Scheyer at Duke.
Although Federiko would be a valuable addition to Auburn’s team, Pearl might want to make a bold move this offseason to acquire one of the best players available.
