According to head basketball coach Bruce Pearl, senior guard Antoine Mason, whose father, former New York Knick Anthony Mason, passed away, likely will not play in Auburn’s Tuesday night matchup at Missouri
“I don’t think there is any chance that Antoine will be back on Tuesday,” Pearl said. “I do think that the arrangements for his dad are for the end of this week, and they are working on it right now. They really couldn’t get much done until Monday, given the fact that he passed late Friday night/early Saturday morning. We would expect something late in the week.”
Pearl added that right now, there is no time table for the stand-out guard’s return.
“I don’t know that he will be back for Senior Day on Saturday,” Pearl said. “I just think we will have to wait and see. Whatever they decide we will support.”
Pearl also pointed out that Mason’s passing has not only been tragic for Antoine, but for everyone involved with the basketball program because of how involved Mason was with the team.
“It was very difficult because Anthony (Mason) was very present around practices and games,” Pearl said. “He would sit there after practice and he would spend as much time with Kareem (Canty) or Cinmeon (Bowers) or any of the other players as he did with Antoine (Mason).”
Mason was honest with the team, Pearl said, and that filled an empty space for a few of Pearl’s players.
"Anthony didn’t edit,” Pearl said. “He would tell you what he thought. For some of those guys that did not have a father that would be here watching the games and encouraging them and criticizing them, Anthony did that for a lot of those guys. That’s just who he was. It was difficult. And it is difficult not having some of the guys that could help us be successful like at a time when we were successful earlier in the year. There just isn’t that much margin for error.”
While Antoine has been away from the team, Pearl said he has been sure to keep in contact with him.
“It is just hard,” Pearl said. “The biggest thing is that it hurts. He is just going through it every day. We talk to him every day, text him every day. There is just a huge void in his life. It is a test of his faith.”
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