Bruce Pearl discusses first impression of Chance Westry in injury return
After sitting out the first two games of the season while recovering from minor offseason knee surgery, freshman guard Chance Westry made his Auburn debut Tuesday against Winthrop.
The No. 38 overall player in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus, Westry wasted no time making an impact. He came off the bench and drained his first shot attempt of the game, finishing with with five points, two rebounds and two assists on 2-of-6 shooting.
In his postgame press conference, Tigers coach Bruce Pearl evaluated the progress Westry has made since his injury in the fall as well as his performance in the 89-65 victory Tuesday.
“First of all, Dr. Anders did a great job,” Pearl said. “Clark, Dave, our trainers and Chance have done a great job with the rehab. We’re just never gonna rush it. Never. But he has missed so much. He missed the entire fall. Again, I put him in a very tough spot tonight playing three positions, but it was great to have him out there. He’ll play well. He can do a lot with and without the ball. He’s a good player.”
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One of the highlight plays from Westry on Tuesday was an assist he made to center Dylan Cardwell for an easy dunk. After slicing through multiple defenders in the lane, Westry jumped in the air as if he were going to shoot, faking out another defender before calming dishing the ball off to Cardwell.
Chance Westry was the second-highest rated recruit in Auburn’s 2022 class behind only forward Yohan Traore, the No. 23 overall player. Westry chose the Tigers over offers from Michigan, LSU, Syracuse and many others.
As Pearl mentioned, Westry played multiple positions for the Tigers on Tuesday, so it seems he should be able to find a role somewhere now that he’s healthy. His next chance to make an impact comes at 7 p.m. CT on Friday when the Tigers host Texas Southern.