1 T ABL E OF C ONTENT S /// SCHEDULE 27 COVID-19 Safety 39 Tigers Unlimited 40 Believe in Auburn Campaign 45 Opponent: Arkansas 47 Opponent: Texas A&M 48 Radio TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Auburn Roster and Stats 5 Bruce Pearl 9 Men’s Basketball Staff 10 Feature: NBA Debuts 15 AUTLIVE 18 Career Records2 2020 -21 ROS TER 2 SHARIFE COOPER Guard / 6’1” / 180 lbs Freshman / Powder Springs, GA 1 JAMAL JOHNSON Guard / 6’4” / 195 lbs Junior / Birmingham, AL 20 CARTER SOBERA Guard / 6’5” / 187 lbs Freshman / Birmingham, AL 22 ALLEN FLANIGAN Guard / 6’6” / 215 lbs Sophomore / Little Rock, AR 21 TY CRESSMAN Forward / 6’7” / 244 lbs Sophomore / Greensboro, NC 12 LIOR BERMAN Guard / 6’4” / 215 lbs Sophomore / Birmingham, AL 14 PRESTON COOK Guard / 6’4” / 205 lbs Junior / Auburn, AL 13 BABATUNDE AKINGBOLA Center / 6’10” / 245 lbs Sophomore / Ogun, Nigeria 4 JAVON FRANKLIN Forward / 6’7” / 220 lbs Junior / Little Rock, AR 10 JT THOR Forward / 6’10” / 205 lbs Freshman / Anchorage, AK 5 CHRIS MOORE Forward / 6’6” / 240 lbs Freshman / West Memphis, AR 23 JAYLIN WILLIAMS Forward / 6’8” / 230 lbs Sophomore / Nahunta, GA 25 CHANDLER LEOPARD Guard / 6’3” / 195 lbs Sophomore / Athens, AL 24 JUSTIN POWELL Guard / 6’6” / 205 lbs Freshman / Prospect, KY 33 CHASE MAASDORP Guard / 6’0” / 175 lbs RS Sophomore / Lakewood Ranch, FL3 2020 -21 ROS TER 44 DYLAN CARDWELL Center / 6’11” / 250 lbs Freshman / Augusta, GA 35 DEVAN CAMBRIDGE Guard / 6’6” / 215 lbs Sophomore / Nashville, TN CLICK EACH PHOTO FOR FULL BIO 5 BRUCE PEARL In six years as head coach at Auburn, Bruce Pearl has led the Tigers to 125 wins, two Southeastern Conference championships, back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths and the program’s first ever appearance in the Final Four. In his 25 seasons, he has guided his teams to the NCAA Tournament 19 times (what would be 20 if not for the cancelation of the 2020 postseason) and ranks second among active SEC coaches in winning percentage as an NCAA head coach at .725. Pearl is one of just three head coaches to take four programs (with three at the DI level) to the Sweet 16, joining Lon Kruger and Eddie Sutton. He has set single-season wins records at four different schools with the most recent coming during the 2018-19 season when the Tigers amassed 30 victories en route to the Final Four. Pearl is only the 11th coach in SEC history to win four conference titles in a 10-year span, joining the likes of Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), Billy Donovan (Florida), Nolan Richardson (Arkansas) and Rick Pitino (Kentucky) among others. Pearl has produced one of, if not the, biggest turnaround in the entire college basketball landscape. Before taking over prior to the 2014-15 season, the Tigers had an average RPI of 191.8. In the past three seasons, Auburn finished its campaign 16th, 13th and 27th, respectively, in the final RPI, highlighted by consecutive NCAA Tournament bids and a pair of conference titles. Over the last three seasons, Auburn is one of only four major programs to win at least 25 games each year, joining Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. His teams have been just as successful off the court as Auburn has had 29 graduates in five years – the most in the SEC. Pearl has tutored the two most prolific shooters in SEC history in Bryce Brown BRUCE PEARL Head Coach6 BRUCE PEARL and Chris Lofton. Lofton (Tennessee) holds the career 3-point mark of 431 makes from downtown, while Brown is second at 382 3-pointers. In the past four seasons, Auburn has the best non-conference record in the SEC during the regular season at 47-5 (.904), while scheduling perennial NCAA Tournament teams in Arizona, Dayton, Davidson, Iowa State, Middle Tennessee, Murray State, NC State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, UConn, Washington and Xavier. Pearl’s 25 years of coaching experience covers four stops. He began his head coaching career with a nine-year stay at Southern Indiana, taking the program to the NCAA Tournament each season, going 231-46 (.834) from 1992-2001. From there he made the move to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, taking the Panthers to the NIT once and the NCAA Tournament twice, including a 2005 Sweet 16 appearance. After compiling an 86-38 (.694) record at UW-Milwaukee, Tennessee tabbed him as its leader in 2005 and he responded by taking the program to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet Sixteens (2007, 2008) and the 2010 Elite Eight, which was the most successful six-year run in Volunteers history. Pearl’s coaching career began at his alma mater, Boston College, as a student assistant coach to the legendary Dr. Tom Davis. After 14 seasons seated to the right of Davis, the 32-year-old Pearl embarked on his own head coaching career. But Pearl’s first break came during his undergraduate career at BC when Davis offered him a position of student assistant in 1978. In 1981, the Eagles won the Big East Conference championship and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. The following season, BC advanced to the Elite Eight. When Davis moved on to Stanford in 1982, Pearl joined his staff as an assistant coach and then, at the age of 23, was promoted to associate head coach for the Cardinal. While in Palo Alto, Calif., they ended a streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons with a 19-12 overall record in 1983-84, laying the groundwork for a resurgence in Stanford basketball. During that time, they recruited four players who were drafted by the NBA, including Todd Lichti, who finished his career as Stanford’s all-time leading scorer with 2,336 career points. After four seasons on the West Coast, Pearl followed Davis to Iowa in 1986. Over the course of the next six seasons, the Hawkeyes received five NCAA Tournament berths while compiling a 129-63 overall record. In 1987, the Hawkeyes recorded a 30-5 mark and advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to UNLV. And in 1988, Pearl was recognized as one of the top Division I assistants in the country by Basketball Weekly while helping direct the Hawkeyes to the Sweet Sixteen. His six seasons in Iowa City helped produce 11 NBA draft picks for the Hawkeyes, including Brad Lohaus, Kevin Gamble, B.J. Armstrong, Roy Marble and Acie Earl. Pearl’s first head coaching opportunity came at Southern Indiana, a Division II school located in Evansville, Ind. A native of Boston, Mass., Pearl received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston College in 1982, graduating cum laude. Pearl has two daughters: Jacqui and Leah, two sons: Steven and Michael, and one granddaughter: Chaya. He is married to the former Brandy Miller of Sevierville, Tenn. Next >