NCAA Basketball: Quartet of SEC Schools make 2021 G Trey Alexander’s top 7
By Ian Mumm
Auburn Tigers
It didn’t take long for Bruce Pearl to start feeling comfortable at Auburn. Going into his 7th season with the program, he’s fully transformed the Tigers into a powerhouse nationally and in the Southeastern Conference.
The program has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years, including a Final Four appearance, and has brought home SEC regular-season and tournament championships all with the national perception of an under-qualified roster. The prospect of success in the near future continues to hold firm, as Pearl signed a top-10 class in 2020 headlined by 5-star guard Sharife Cooper.
If he’s still on the roster in 2021, pairing up Alexander will produce heightened expectations by analysts and fans alike. The duo naturally plays in mutually beneficial ways to each other that should result in elevated performances on the court. The 2021 roster currently remains barren of significant backcourt talent, outside of the aforementioned Alexander and Cooper, and the majority of the team’s production will firmly fall on their shoulders.
Cooper is a dangerous threat operating in the pick-and-roll and moving downhill. He sees the floor exceptionally well and will open up perimeter shots for Alexander to comfortably get his shots off.
Likewise, Alexander’s consistency shooting the ball will open driving lanes in the same regard for Cooper to attack the rim and leave defenses hesitant about committing their attack to either guard.
Auburn needs a lot of improvement with offensive efficiency and that’s likely to occur if Alexander steps on campus. The Tigers were one of the more frequent perimeter shooting teams last year, but fell within the nation’s bottom-50 in conversions. Small increases on that end of the floor will signal big results for the Auburn program moving forward.