Year one of the Steven Pearl era at Auburn proved to be one defined by a lot of adversity and some challenges to go along with it, both on and off the court.
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The Tigers went 22-16 and were left out of the NCAA Tournament in 2026, largely because they lost eight of their final 10 in the regular season.
The roster that was put on the floor was young, and lacked depth, the latter of which was especially evident inside the paint and down low. Auburn was only able to play with one true rim protector in the middle—Keshawn Murphy.
Murphy has now run out of eligibility, meaning Pearl needed to go find some big bodies in the waters elsewhere. Now, he has two in France native Narcisse Ngoy and Santa Clara transfer Bukky Oboye, which has made for a positive impression on their teammates.
“It’s amazing,” said guard Tahaad Pettiford at SEC Media Days. “Having those two guys down there is kind of like a bail out. If I ever need help I can just throw it up to those guys and they’ll go get it anywhere it is.”
Murphy stood a 6-foot-10 and transferred over from Mississippi State. While he provided twitch and SEC experience, he could not be relied on to play the full 40 minutes in any given game.
Having two guys that are at 7-foot and taller helps the team in many ways, but it more importantly previews what the Tigers will see this season.
“Changes everything,” said Kevin Overton. “Definitely changes what you see going to the rim in practice, for sure. It's been what we need, replicating what we played against last year. I think a lot of the time, practice doesn't replicate how high level it is whenever you get into the game. But having those two and watching them battle has been a blessing for us, for sure.”
Pearl said during his session in front of the media at SEC Media Days on Tuesday that Oboye has shown out in the fact that he can truly get out and attack the rim like a big is supposed to.
What really sticks out though—his deep shooting ability.
“When you get Bukky out there, Bukky is going to be a guy that, one, can stretch the floor and can really shoot it,” Pearl said. “Since we got back from Greece, he's shooting, like, 40-something percent from three. He's made 10 or 12 3’s from practice since then. He's shown an ability to stretch the floor.”
As for Ngoy, it is his ability to stretch out and go get the ball that truly stands out about his game, as he has become a rim protector for the program.
Ngoy was the Defensive Player of the Year in the French League 2 last season, which is certainly carrying over to his early time on the Plains.
“Narcisse is just a bigger body that's going to take up a ton of space,” Pearl said. Going to be able to alter and block shots around the rim. He's got these huge hands, and he really has great hands, so he can rebound out of his area and really possess the ball.”
Since the pair has arrived at Auburn, they have both stuck out in their own ways.
Oboye has made a statement though, one that is being noticed.
“I've watched him, again, change his approach,” Overton said. “I think our collective approach as a team individually, if that makes sense, has been—everybody's changed a little bit in learning what we need to do better. But he's taken big strides. I think it was probably like two weeks ago, we were talking trash about him or something. Ever since then, he's turned it up to another level.”
At the end of the day, both players being on the floor is something Pearl is excited about, looking to see his team improve off of being ninth in the SEC in blocks per game last year.
“They're going to be two very different players when they're out there on the floor, which I think will make it challenging for our opponents to have to scout us, because they're going to have to play against two totally different 7-footers on that frontline,” Pearl said.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
