Auburn HC Steven Pearl Explains How He’s Helping Tahaad Pettiford Make Plays in 2026

Tahaad Pettiford has been one of the biggest names on the Auburn Tigers since he committed back in 2023, and he has had quite the rollercoaster of a career so far. In two years, the ‘kid from Jersey’ has been on a Final Four run and an NIT Championship run, and now, he’s returning for his third year on the Plains with high hopes.

However, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl was not ecstatic about how Pettiford was used last season, his first year as a full-time starter, and he has made drastic changes to the Tigers’ game plan this season in an effort to get Pettiford back to the top of his game.

“We didn't do a very good job of constructing our roster last year, and I think that really fed into some of Tahaad's struggles,” Pearl said during SEC Media Days. “I don't think we had enough perimeter shooting around him. We had no lob threats at the rim, and when you think about great point guards, they have to have great pieces around them to allow them to play in space and allow them to get cleaner shots off.”

The difference between the Tigers’ rosters over the past three seasons has been dramatic, and Pettiford has been one of the only returning players from either of the last two seasons. In 2024, he had the help of several talented big men, alongside some of the better guards in the country, but the following season, much of the pressure to produce fell squarely onto Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall, a more isolated style of play that did not serve the Tigers well.

That isolation allowed defenses to hone in on Pettiford specifically, which closed off quite a bit of opportunity for the playmaking abilities he flashed in the previous season.

“Last year too much of the defense was being focused on Tahaad,” he said. “There weren't enough pieces around them that could make them pay if they were to, when he drives to the basket, help off the big. We didn't have anybody to go throw it up to catch it, high-point it, and dunk it.”

This season, Pearl has built a roster that, on paper, appears to solve many of the issues that plagued the Tigers throughout last season. He’s supplemented frontcourt depth with multiple 7-footers, including French big man Narcisse Ngoy and Santa Clara transfer Bukky Oboye, while retaining Kevin Overton, who came alive in the late season and during the NIT, at the guard position.

Pearl was clear that these additions have improved Pettiford’s efficiency over the offseason, which should bode well for the Tigers’ outlook this season. After all, it’s much harder to guard five playmakers than it is to guard two.

“To be able to stick around him with guys that can shoot threes and guys that are career 35 to 40% three-point shooters, [defenders] have to make a decision,” Pearl said. “Am I going to help off the strong side corner and go help on Tahaad's drive, or am I going to stay home on the shooter? That allows Tahaad to play more in space.”

The Tigers will almost certainly look completely different on offense this year, and if this philosophy solves last season’s issues as thoroughly as Pearl seems to think it will, the Tigers could be a force to behold in the SEC this season behind their now-veteran point guard.

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