Year three of the Pearl era will officially begin on Friday as the Tigers begin full contact practice in Auburn Arena, marking the official start of the 2016-2017 season.
“Back in the day, there used to be a hard Oct. 15 date, and we all looked forward to it,” Pearl said. “We had double sessions, and we had three weeks to get ready, and it wasn’t nearly enough time. There was Midnight Madness.”
“Thanks to what I think are the real improvement of the rules in that we can work with them in the summer and work with them in the fall, we are so much further ahead and so are all the other teams. Teams are better. Players are better. It reduces the risk of injury. Right now, we look pretty good offensively and defensively. We have a lot of work to do.”
Although the Tiger team will feature a number of highly anticipated newcomers, Pearl will also rely heavily on the six players returning from last season.
“You are only as good as your returning cast,” Pearl said. “While we don’t have a lot of returners, we have good players returning who went through a little bit of pain and suffering. I think two things: No. 1, I know they know what it takes and No. 2, I think our returning players have done a great job welcoming in the six or seven newcomers that we have had.”
“Dunans has proved that he can break down anybody. He just needs to stay healthy. He is one of the more productive players on our team. He makes everybody better. Lang is a very dangerous deep threat, who is a high IQ player and is getting better. The light came on with Horace last year. In February, he wanted the basketball, and he finished around the rim. He is obviously a great rim protector, brings great energy and is a great teammate.”
The Tigers 2016-17 roster houses six underclassmen including Mustapha Heron, the first 5-star in school history, 4-star Danjel Purifoy, who was redshirted last season, freshmen Jared Harper and Anfernee McLemore. Graduate transfers Ronnie Johnson from Houston, and former Bethune-Cookman star LaRon Smith, who tied for third nationally in blocks, are also highly touted newcomers.
“We will have, for the third year in a row, six or seven new members on our roster,” Pearl said. “My first year we had six, and then the second year we had six counting Danjel, and then this year it’s going to be six. That’s part of our story is that, for the third consecutive year, we’re going to have six or potentially seven new players.
“We’ve graduated 11. We’ve managed to, in three years, perhaps only lose one APR point with all the transition. And right now, I think we have a really solid foundation that has been laid because our roster will contain seven or eight of our 13 scholarship players will be freshmen or sophomores. So, we’ve got a very good, young foundation that has been laid, and I think the result of that should be our ability to compete for championships in the next couple of years.”
Pearl and the Tigers will take on Montevallo in an exhibition game at Auburn Arena on Nov. 4, before tipping off the regular season against North Florida on Nov. 11 at home.
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