AUBURN – When Jeff Lebo arrives for work every morning, he can see the future home of Auburn basketball taking shape. Sometime next summer, the men’s and women’s programs will move into their state-of-the art new home.
But first, there is one more season to be played at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
And it is there that, in his sixth Auburn season, Lebo will try to build on the success of last season. The Tigers were among the nation’s hotter teams down the stretch. They went 24-12 overall and 10-6 in the Southeastern Conference. Left out of the NCAA Tournament field, the advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
“We got a taste of what it was like to win,” Lebo said. “I think the things for us was the way we finished. We had so many meaningful games coming down the stretch. Every game seemed to grow in importance, and we handled that very well. For our guys coming back and being able to play in those kind of games, I think that is going to be very valuable. We have a taste of success, a taste of postseason and also a taste of not making it to the NCAA Tournament. They’re hungry.”
Auburn must replace departed forward Korvotney Barber and guard Rasheem Barrett and Quantez Robertson. The leader in that effort, Lebo said, will be point guard DeWayne Reed.
“DeWayne Reed was probably the most improved player in the SEC last year,” Lebo said. “He has been outstanding in workouts. He’s probably been our best player, in workouts and has been our most consistent guy, offensively and defensively.
“It’s like having a quarterback. You want an experienced guy back there that has been through the wars. He’s starting to understand his position much more and his toughness, mental and physical, has been very good. He’s going to be one of the top point guards in the league. He was last year.”
Reed was Auburn’s leading scorer last season at 13.2 points per game. Senior guard Tay Waller averaged 12.2 points per game. Senior forward Lucas Hargrove averaged 8.1 and sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan 7.6.
The Tigers begin preseason practice Friday at 5 p.m.
For the video of Lebo’s preseason preview, go below.
