Quotes of Note: Steven Pearl sees deeper, stronger Auburn basketball team

Year two of the Steven Pearl era for the Auburn Tigers is gearing up to begin on Wednesday when the Tigers take on the Florida State Seminoles in exhibition action in Birmingham.

Auburn enters the 2026-2027 season after putting up a 22-16 campaign overall and a 7-11 campaign in conference play. The Tigers missed the NCAA Tournament as one of the first four teams out as a result, but played in the NIT and won the whole thing in Indianapolis.

Auburn Head Coach Stevem Pearl took the stage on Tuesday morning at SEC Basketball Media Days in Mountain Brook, previewing the team while talking about what the Tigers have done in the offseason.

Here are some of his most notable quotes from the morning session.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR LIMITED-TIME SUBSCRIPTION MATCH OFFER

On the overall feel about this team this season:

“Really excited about this group. It's a group that I think we had to address a lot of things last year that we were deficient in, and I think we did those things. Being able to retain the two guys that came with me, Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton, was instrumental. 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.”

On how he has seen the depth show up over the offseason:

“Throughout the summer if a guy went down with an injury, we were able to put somebody in at his position, and we were able to still have productive practices. Last year we had stretches during the season where if a guy was a little dinged up, we really couldn't have a productive practice because we only had six or seven guys that we felt like could play in the rotation. I'm in a place now this year where we feel like we have 13 guys that could really play meaningful minutes and contribute for us this year.”

On what is driving the team’s work ethic early:

“I think that's part of our job as coaches to be able to identify players that have high work ethics and really want to live in the gym. One of the biggest challenges that I made to my staff in this offseason was being more present. Not just one or two guys, but the whole staff really being present in that gym every single day, working guys out. I thought the staff really responded to that this summer.”

On what has been the result of being able to play in the NIT last year:

“To be able to keep Tahaad and KO I think was the biggest thing that we were able to pull from

that. 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.”

On the improvement of the perimeter defense:

“We didn't do a good enough job of putting the pieces together that fit with how we like to defend. I think more than anything we have more size at the rim this year to be able to protect us when we are aggressive on the perimeter, if we do get driven or if we get beat back door.”

On how Tahaad Pettiford has developed in the offseason:

“Since we got back from Greece, Tahaad's efficiency numbers have been really, really good, and I would like to see those continues. He's continuing to work on his leadership on and off the floor. His routine has been really solid. He's in a great place mentally right now. I think part of that is we did a better job of constructing this roster to be able to bring out the strengths of his game.”

Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.