Bruce Pearl explains how he built Auburn's roster with uncertainty on Tahaad Pettiford's future

There was no guarantee that Auburn was going to get Tahaad Pettiford back for a sophomore season. That had the Tigers considering all their options when it came to building next season’s roster over this spring as they awaited his actual announcement.

Bruce Pearl, on ‘The Sideline with Andy Katz’, discussed their process as Auburn stood by for Pettiford’s eventual decision to withdraw his name from the 2025 NBA Draft. He said it was difficult with that key spot left open by him before he eventually pulled his name out at the deadline, come the end of last month.

“That’s one of the hard things about doing it,” Pearl said. “We got lucky in the sense that, him coming back obviously helped complete the roster a little bit.”

Pearl, though, revealed that the Tigers had other options, specifically international ones, had Pettiford not come back and remained in the NBA Draft. That has become a more common option for college coaches, especially pending draft and portal decisions.

“We had a couple of international kids that were ready. We had a couple of international guys that were a little bit older, a little bit more experienced, that were ready to go if he stayed in the draft. And, they weren’t guarantees. We still had a little bit of work to do but that’s what I think more and more people are doing,” Pearl said. “And, you know, I think it’s a great thing, you know, for college basketball. I think it’s a great thing to bring in some of these that have played; they’re a little older. And, I think it’s going to be good for our game.”

“Now, we got — we have work to do right now, you know. This is just a side note – and I don’t mind sharing it because you’re a big thinker. It’s harder and harder to earn visas, student visas now became the Trump administration is, wisely, spending more time vetting who’s coming into this country and I’m really glad that they’re doing that…Being on a student visa is a privilege,” Pearl continued. “At the same time, it is slowing the process down a little bit. So we’ve got a lot of kids, including ours, who are waiting to get their visas to get here. And so, hopefully, that gets — we’re able to get through to that right now.”

That said, Auburn didn’t have to get to that point. Pettiford, their reserve guard who averaged 11.6 points (42.1% FG, 36.6% 3PT on 1.8 makes), 3.0 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game as a selection to the SEC All-Freshman Team, is back for Year Two on The Plains. He’ll now take a much larger role as a starter, being the Tigers’ lead player as the only returner from last year’s all-time team for the program that went 32-6, won the regular-season title in the SEC, and reached the Final Four as the No. 1 overall seed.

Pettiford will lead what’s a roster of 10 new players for Auburn. The Tigers have brought in a Top 10 portal class, with four transfers all in the Top 200 overall in Keyshawn Hall (UCF), Elyjah Freeman (Lincoln Memorial – DII), Keshawn Murphy (Mississippi State), and Kevin Overton (Texas Tech). Auburn also has a Top 30 recruiting class with a trio of four-stars in Sebastian Williams-Adams, Kaden Magwood, and Simon Walker, and then three more pickups with Jovic from overseas, along with Abdul Bashir (Casper College) and Emeka Opurum (Butler Community College) at JUCOs.

The Tigers would’ve been in a notable spot had Pettiford not come back to college with not one name back from the season before. However, with Pettiford back, Auburn can look ahead to next season with a finalized roster that could be ranked decently again come tip-off.