Auburn star Jabari Smith describes what happened during Wednesday night travel delay

Auburn‘s NCAA Tournament got off to a bit of a rocky start on Wednesday night when the team flight faced difficulties. According to Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson, the players eventually boarded a private plane while coaches and staff took busses with the luggage to Greenville, South Carolina.

After arriving late on Wednesday night, only for the Auburn coaches to show up late in the night, star freshman Jabari Smith described the crazy day of flight delays and travel to reach the NCAA Tournament.

“The flight got a little delayed, so we had to stick around Auburn a little bit,” said Smith. “But we got it situated and planes came and got us, and we got down here at a reasonable time, ate dinner, got some rest and got ready for today.”

Smith clarified and confirmed that the team had not taken off when the airplane experience issues, saying no one boarded the original flight.

“I was just delayed, so we couldn’t get on it yet,” said Smith. “When the other planes came, we just got on it and left.”

After the difficult day of travel, Auburn now prepares to face in-state opponent Jacksonville State, whose coach knows Bruce Pearl from his days in the Division II coaching ranks. The Gamecocks reached the NCAA Tournament in controversial fashion after losing in the conference tournament as the 1-seed but advancing thanks to a rule making champion Bellarmine ineligible.

Reunion for Bruce Pearl

As the NCAA Tournament begins, one intriguing matchup combines in-state rivalry and a connection between coaches which stretches back to the 1990s. As 2-seed Auburn prepares to face 15-seed Jacksonville State, Bruce Pearl also prepares to reunite with Ray Harper, an old foe from the Division II level.

From 1992-2001, Bruce Pearl coached Southern Indiana through a fierce rivalry with Ray Harper’s Kentucky Wesleyan. The former Division II coaches now meet up more than 20 years later in the Division I NCAA Tournament.

Harper discussed what he remembers most from the old rivalry days with Pearl, offering insight to how big the game became.

“I was younger than him, so that’s why I got the best of him,” Harper joked. “We really created something of interest to those communities. Our schools were separated by about 40 miles. You couldn’t get a ticket. Their game at their place, you couldn’t get a ticket. At our place, and when the conference tournament would roll around and seated 10,000, you couldn’t get a ticket to that game.”