Auburn Loses Final Remaining Piece of 2026 Backcourt to Transfer Portal

The Auburn Tigers came into the 2025-26 season with just a single returning player, so Steven Pearl and company had to work hard to make sure that the influx of new Tigers was able to work together and compete at a high level. Now, the Tigers are poised to lose yet another piece to the Transfer Portal, which leaves the margin between last year’s returners and this year’s returners even slimmer than before.

On Wednesday, Auburn center Emeka Opurum announced that he would be entering the Transfer Portal. He is now the sixth Tiger to enter the Portal, joining guards Abdul Bashir, Kaden Magwood and Elyjah Freeman as well as big men Sebastian Williams-Adams and Filip Jović.

NEW: Auburn center Emeka Opurum has entered the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos reports.https://t.co/Im777miSMM pic.twitter.com/rNjkuTeuLR
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) April 22, 2026

Opurum is the third and final Auburn big man to transfer, so the Tigers will have no returners in the backcourt next year. However, that does not at all mean that they will be without big man play, and in fact, it is looking to be the opposite.

In the backcourt alone, the Tigers have landed Narcisse Ngoy, a French seven-footer who has professional basketball experience, former Big Ten Freshman of the Year forward Owen Freeman, South Alabama transfer Adam Olsen, seven-foot-one Santa Clara transfer Bukky Oboye and Thomas Dowd, who led the Sun Belt in rebounds in 2026.

Many believe that the reason for Williams-Adams’ sudden departure was the influx of rotation competition, which may also be the reason for Opurum's transfer. After all, Opurum missed most of the season due to injury, so he has yet to get a chance to prove himself to Steven Pearl.

As it stands, the Tigers’ rotation is still most certainly in the works, but a potential lineup with this updated roster could consist of Tahaad Pettiford at the point, Kevin Overton at the two spot, Owen Freeman and Thomas Dowd at the three and four and Narcisse Ngoy at the five spot.

Of course, the Tigers’ success will depend not only on roster makeup but also on the chemistry and coaching throughout the season and offseason. The Tigers are certainly set up well for next season with all of their new roster additions, but it will still fall on Steven Pearl to get these players to play as a team.

If he can manage that, though, the Tigers may be set for another historic season, but they will have to do so without Opurum.

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