Steven Pearl Gushes About Auburn’s 2026 Roster: ‘This Group is Really Connected’

Auburn head coach Steven Pearl is looking to build on his opening season that finished with a NIT Championship.

Auburn Tigers head coach Steven Pearl is entering his second season at the helm of the men's basketball program. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers have had quite a rollercoaster of the past few seasons on the basketball court, going from a Final Four run in 2024 to a NIT run in 2025, and now the Tigers’ roster is set to look completely different once again.

The Tigers are only set to return two starters from last year’s roster: Tahaad Pettiford and NIT Most Outstanding Player Kevin Overton. As a result, the Tigers have been forced to reload, particularly in the big man spots, and Steven Pearl has done so quite impressively.

The Tigers have picked up a litany of top players, including center Narcisse Ngoy from France, guard Mantas Rubštavičius from Lithuania, center Bukky Oboye from Santa Clara, forward Owen Freeman from Creighton, forward Thomas Dowd from Troy, forward Adam Olsen from South Alabama and combo guard George Kimble III from Vanderbilt. 

With so many new faces from so many different places, one would expect this team to take a good bit of time to find their bearings and function as a unit. Pearl, however, told the press that the Tigers’ roster is already connecting at a high level.

“Compared to years we’ve had in the past, this group is really connected,” Pearl said. “Now, we haven’t had any adversity. But up to this point, this team has probably spent more time with each other than any team we’ve had in a while, which was probably something we were missing last year.”

In Pearl’s defense, last year was quite a difficult time for the Tigers, especially after the surprise retirement of Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, which left his son, Steven, to pick up the pieces of a gutted Final Four roster. The younger Pearl did what he could with his limited time, but having so much extra time to get the roster together and connected is clearly benefiting the Tigers.

“You’ve seen some progression of guys making improvements, and a different guy plays well every week, which is encouraging,” he said. “But you really won’t know anything until you go out there and play against other competition. So far, our guys have had a good summer to this point.”

The Tigers are certainly looking to rebound from the disappointment that was last season, and Pearl has put the pieces in place to do so. However, much still remains to be seen with this group, and many questions will not find an answer until the team takes the court for the first time together later this year.

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