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The Auburn Tigers have started off the transfer portal season with several additions. Going into the offseason, the Tigers needed nine scholarship players, per 247Sports’s Auburn Undercover. It was up to head coach Bruce Pearl to find the players he wanted for the 2025-26 season.
So far, Pearl and his staff have already added five players: JUCO big man Emeka Operum, UCF transfer KeyShawn Hall, Texas Tech transfer Kevin Overton, Mississippi State transfer Keshawn Murphy and JUCO guard Abdul Bashir. All five players have now signed with the Tigers and will be crucial to Auburn’s success next season. The Tigers have lost every player of their rotation from this past season.
There is at least hope that point guard Tahaad Pettiford could return to the team after a stellar freshman season. He is testing out the NBA Draft and seeing what their scouts say. This is something that Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell did multiple times during their collegiate career.
The two most important might be Operum and Murphy after the departure of Broome and Cardwell. "When you graduate one of the best frontlines in college basketball, you've got some work to do," Pearl said . “He [Murphy] is one of the most efficient players in our league.
He impacts the game on both the offensive and defensive ends. KeShawn is a great young man from a wonderfully supportive family." Murphy had a fantastic season in 2024, averaging 11.
7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a junior. Pearl will look to pair him up with Operum, a freshman form Lagos, Nigeria playing JUCO ball at Butler Community College.
During his time there, he averaged 9.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.
6 blocks a game. He earned the NJCCC Defensive Player of the Year honors. These two additions already have helped rebuild the Tigers’ defensively.
Hall and Bashir both are bigger guards, similar to Chad Baker-Mazara, who announced his intention to transfer on Thursday. "Keyshawn was one of the most impactful players in the transfer portal," Pearl said. "He was the leading scorer in the Big 12 and is a bucket getter.
He is a very difficult one-on-one cover and can play multiple positions, both offensively and defensively. He is just a matchup nightmare for the opponent.” Regarding Bashir , he was one of the JUCO players a season ago.
He led the entire division in scoring with 27.2 points per game. That will be crucial for the Tigers as their leading scorer this past season was Johni Broome with 18.
6 points per game. Even if Bashir’s average is a tad down next season, it will be right where Auburn wants him to be. The final signing so far was Texas Tech’s Kevin Overton.
The best part about him is that he isn’t flashy with his numbers. It is more about his veteran leadership. "Kevin Overton is a winner," Pearl said.
“The way he plays, flat out impacts winning. He has always been known as a tough, physical defender and a 3 and D guy. Kevin will have the opportunity to expand his game at Auburn.
Graduating Denver Jones, Miles Kelly and Chris Moore, we needed a veteran leader to call our young backcourt. The character, toughness and work ethic that Kevin brings will add to our culture and rebuild our roster." With five of the nine roster spots already filled, things look significantly better than they did just a few weeks ago when the portal originally opened.
Now with only four spots remaining, Pearl will likely try to add a role player or two to build the team’s depth at each position. He will have just a few more days to do that as the portal closes on April 22..
