The Auburn Tigers and Head Coach Steven Pearl received a big piece of news on Monday as four-star guard Jason Gardner Jr. publicly announced his commitment to come to the Plains.
Gardner, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard from Fishers High School in Indiana, is the first commitment in the Tigers’ 2027 class, and chose Pearl’s squad over his four other finalists—DePaul, Indiana, Florida and Stanford.
According to his ESPN scouting profile, is the No. 19 guard in the nation, the No. 16 player regionally and the No. 4 player in the state of Indiana. He is currently ranked No. 77 in the SportsCenter Next100.
Gardner recently made his official visit to the Plains, looking at the program on the weekend of Sept. 19, the same weekend that the football program hosted Florida for its SEC opener.
In his junior season at Fishers, Gardner averaged 20.3 points per game with 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. However, the guard only played seven games in the season, as he suffered a fracture to his left hand, causing him to miss a lot of time.
In his sophomore year though, Gardner put up an average of 14.5 points and 3.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game on the way to his team finishing as the runner-up in the Indiana state basketball championship.
One source said that Gardner is a downhill driver that utilizes open space well, allowing him to create more plays, whether that be dumping the ball off to a second option or getting to the rim. The ability makes him hard to stay in front of and a challenge in the backcourt.
Gardner also possesses an ability to shoot from distance, giving Pearl’s squad another player with a knack for pulling up from 3-point land.
The guard’s offer from the Tigers was one of the more recents ones, earning it in December 2025. It is a newer addition to more than 30 offers from Division I programs, including ones from Florida, Mississippi State, Texas and more.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
