Steven Pearl doesn’t sound like a coach apologizing for Auburn’s NIT trip. He sounds like a coach who thinks it helped build the program.
At SEC Media Days this week, Pearl revisited the Tigers’ decision to accept last season’s NIT bid after missing the NCAA Tournament in a year defined by close losses. Auburn went on to win the event behind Kevin Overton’s Most Outstanding Player run, but plenty of fans were unhappy the Tigers took the invite at all.
Pearl made it clear he sees value in the run, especially because it gave him real time in the chair during his first year as head coach.
“For me personally, it was great to have five additional reps to be able to compete and coach and be in difficult situations and have to motivate and rally a team when they really don't want to be there in that moment,” he said. “I'm not trying to be selfish, but it was incredibly valuable for me as a first-year head coach to be able to have those reps...
I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm glad we did it.”
That matters even more when you remember how quickly Pearl was pushed into the job. He took over just weeks before last season began, and that made the learning curve steep from the start. The NIT gave him another stage, another set of pressure moments, and another chance to steady a group in the middle of a rough season.
But Pearl pointed to more than just coaching experience. In his view, the tournament also helped Auburn keep two important pieces through a transfer-heavy offseason: Kevin Overton and Tahaad Pettiford.
“Being able to retain the two guys that came with me, Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton, was instrumental,” he said. “If people want to question why we played in the NIT, I think that was a great reason right there. Being able to keep those two guys, I think, allowed them to feel good and to be able to trust the things that we were doing at Auburn.”
The Tigers are now built around that duo, and Pearl’s roster construction leans heavily on what those players chose to do after last season’s unexpected detour. After a Final Four push in 2024 under Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s drop to the NIT was a hard swing for fans to swallow. Steven Pearl, though, says the extra games were worth it.
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The ripple effect matters for Auburn because Georgia is also dealing with injuries to other running backs, including Dante Dowdell and Nate Frazier, which could force a thinner rotation than usual. Auburn has its own injury concerns in the backfield, leaving Jeremiah Cobb as the only healthy back getting regular reps, so both teams may end up leaning on depth they would rather not test this early. [Read more 🡒]