Tahaad Pettiford comes back to Auburn as one of the top point guards in college basketball as he flourishes as a leader (Photo Courtesy of Auburn Athletics).
Mentors with Direction: New Auburn head coach Steven Pearl had many coaches who helped him into a position where he could follow his father, Bruce, as the head coach at Auburn. Pearl came to the floor in 2017 after joining the program 12 years ago.
Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, Wake assistant Jason Shay, and Florida head coach Todd Golden were on Bruce Pearl’s staff at Tennessee or Auburn, and Steven Pearl credits them with his rise into the head coaching job at Auburn.
He discussed learning all aspects of the game from his father.
“I think that’s been a huge advantage to have a front-row seat to a master class in rebuilding a program,” said Pearl. “With 10 new guys, it’s not a rebuild, but we have our work cut out for us. We have to do a lot of the same things that B.P. did to get Auburn to where it is today and to continue that success.”
Return of Tahaad: Pettiford could have easily been described as the top guard in the country throughout the late portion of last season when he showed confidence and experience in taking the reins of the program from the backcourt.
“Guys like Dylan (Cardwell), Johni (Broome), and Miles (Kelly) definitely took me under their wing.
Just taught me things as a freshman that I didn’t know.”
He led the Tigers with three assists per game, was third in scoring at 11.6 points per game, and he joined Chad Baker-Mazara and Kelly as a three-point triplicate that was almost an impossible matchup. 
Pettiford has had an instant impact on freshmen or incoming players on this 2025-26 team.
“I just try to tell the freshman that you are going to have your ups and downs in college,” said Pettiford. “That was something I learned. It’s just how you fight back from it.”
Shooting, Rebounding Presence: By losing six of the seven players in their rotation, Auburn had its work cut out in trying to put together a competitive roster.
UCF shooting guard Keyshawn Hall and Mississippi State rebounder KeShawn Murphy fill the needs impeccably well.
Hall led the Knights in scoring and rebounding with 18.8 points and as well as a team high 7.1 rebounds per evening. He was second in assists at 2.4 per game. He also netted 35.4 percent of his triples.
Murphy led the Bulldogs with 7.4 rebounds per outing, and he was second in scoring at 11.6 ppg., and the incoming senior shot 56.6 percent from the floor.
“We responded maturely,” said Murphy of the new Tigers’ additions. “We understood that if we were going to get things done, then we were going to have to be together. We didn’t change much. It was more of us building on what was going on throughout the summer.”
Elyjah Freeman comes from D-II Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) where he shot 58.8 percent, and shooting guard Abdul Bashir played at Casper College (Wyoming) a year ago and led NJCAA D-I in scoring.