Tahaad Pettiford Makes Decision on Future with Auburn Tigers

After Bruce Pearl's retirement, the NCAA Transfer Portal opened for members of the Auburn Tigers for 30 days.

Auburn Tigers guard Tahaad Pettiford is the lone scholarship returning player from last year's run to the Final Four. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.- After the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball's Pro Day on Wednesday afternoon, new head coach Steven Pearl announced to the media that both Tahaad Pettiford and transfer Keyshawn Hall will both remain with the team after the coaching change. 

“All the guys we had here this summer are going to be putting on Auburn jerseys this season,” Pearl said. 

This comes after a 30-day transfer portal window opened for Auburn when former head coach Bruce Pearl stepped down last week. Per NCAA rules, student-athletes are provided with an additional 30-day window to enter the NCAA transfer portal immediately after a coaching change.

“We want guys that want to be here and want guys that want to continue to keep this thing moving in the right direction,” Pearl added. 

Both Pettiford and Hall informed the team of their plans earlier on Wednesday. 

Pettiford's return headlines the two after a stellar freshman season last year.

He averaged 11.6 points per game off of the bench, and often made clutch plays for Auburn when the team was down. He is the only scholarship player returning to Auburn from their final-four run last season.

Meanwhile, Hall was one of Auburn's most notable transfer additions this offseason.

At UCF last season, he averaged 19.9 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and shot 42.7 percent from the field. He was the Big 12’s leading scorer last season.

Almost the entire roster for this season was brought in via the transfer portal this past offseason, this list includes Kevin Overton, KeShawn Murphy, Elyjah Freeman, Emeka Opurum and Abdul Bashir. 

Auburn even decided to take a dip overseas and bring in Filip Jović, from Bosnia. The Tigers also boast a top recruiting class, bringing in Simon Walker, the former No. 2 overall player in Alabama, Kaden Magwood, Jeremiah Bowman and Sebastian Williams-Adams. 

The Auburn roster looks entirely different than it did last year, but with all of the coaching staff and Pettiford returning, the Tigers will still be a dangerous team during the season.