Bruce Pearl identifies Chaney Johnson as Auburn's hardest worker

As much success as Auburn is having this season, a lot is a result of a productive offseason. Bruce Pearl shaped his roster the right way, mixing in a lot of returning talent, some players from the NCAA transfer portal, and a highly rated recruiting class. One of the players to come back was Chaney Johnson but he appears to be a different human.

Pearl says Johnson put on 25 pounds this offseason, completely changing his body. In fact, nobody works harder than him according to Pearl. Whether it’s improving his physique or getting shots up, Pearl is confident everybody inside the program would agree with him.

“We looked at film of Chaney Johnson last year,” Pearl said. “His hair is a little different but the young man is 25 pounds heavier right now. He is a monster… I’ll say it again, Chaney Johnson is my hardest worker. It’s really hard. You go back, look at me for 10 or 11 years, when I say somebody is a hard worker, I always put a couple guys in because you don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.

“Nobody on this team would argue it. Whether it’s developing his body, working on his jump shot, doing all the different things.”

These comments from Pearl come after Johnson had a great night in a blowout win against Mississippi State on Tuesday. Johnson finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. It’s also the first game of the season Johnson has started, replacing the injured Johni Broome.

In a big spot where questions were going to be asked of Auburn, Johnson was able to deliver.

He will need to continue to deliver, even when Broome is back in the mix. Next on the schedule for Auburn is Georgia, heading there as the No. 1 team per the AP poll. Johnson is likely to remain in the starting lineup.

Usually, hard work finds a way to result in some success. Pearl could not be more thrilled with the effort Johnson has put in but also gave out credit to team staff members for helping him out. An all-around effort that is paying off in the middle of January.

Auburn hopes the same will be true come March, looking to win the program’s first national championship game. If anything, we know it won’t be because of a lack of trying.