Tahaad Pettiford withdraws from NBA Draft, will return to Auburn for 2025-26 season

Auburn Tigers point guard Tahaad Pettiford has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft, according to a report from On3’s Joe Tipton. He will now return to Auburn for the 2025-26 season.

This comes following a sensational freshman season with Auburn. He played in 38 games, getting one start, and averaged 22.9 minutes per game as a key player for the Tigers. Pettiford finished the season averaging 11.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. He did that while shooting 42.1 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from three-point range, and 80.4 percent from the free-throw line. Then, on the defensive end, he averaged 0.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per game.

That came in what was an incredibly successful season for Auburn. Their 32 wins were the most Bruce Pearl has ever had at Auburn and just the second time he’s gotten to 30 wins since he first got to the school in 2014. After winning the SEC in the regular season, the Tigers would go to the Final Four for the second time in program history.

Amid the season, Pearl had some fun while praising Pettiford. That included joking that older players have enjoyed playing with him despite being “a little shit.”

“First of all, I want to give his father Travis and Ira Bowman, my assistant coach, credit. Those guys are family friends. The biggest thing with Tahaad was we loved him when he was young. People were interested, they were wondering, ‘I want you to be on my team,’ or, ‘Be our scorer,’ or whatever. I think Tahaad, he remembered that when he was younger. We didn’t waiver from it. He trusted Ira. He’s learned to trust me. He didn’t know me very well,” Pearl said.

“I want to give Johni [Broome] credit in this regard. These guys are best friends. This is a senior in his fifth year. He’s got a lot of other stuff going on. But when it comes to just messing around, having fun — he’s just sort of loving on that little shit. That’s all he’s done. He is a little shit, you know. And he’s loved on him. You know what, so Tahaad — he cares about Dylan [Cardwell]. He cares about the seniors on this team. He really wants to deliver for them.”

Following the season, Tahaad Pettiford decided to test the waters of the NBA Draft. That included going to the NBA Combine, where he impressed many onlookers. His 42-inch vertical jump was the second-best of the combine. Then, in a scrimmage, he scored 23 points with eight assists. There was plenty of buzz around him, he still returned to Auburn for another run.

Prior to coming to Auburn, Pettiford played his high school basketball at Hudson Catholic in New Jersey. There, he was a four-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the 31st-ranked player nationally and the fourth-ranked point guard.