When the men's basketball team gathered for practice Monday afternoon, the Tigers looked like a completely different team than the one that bowed out in the first round of the SEC Tournament last March as a last-place seed.
A host of fresh faces took to the practice floor clad in orange and blue, some of them signees straight out of high school and others transfers from schools across the country with years of eligibility left, all with opportunities ahead of them to earn their way into playing time in Auburn Arena this fall and spring.
Returning players had a different look about them as well, after a summer in the weight room with a challenge to get bigger. Senior forward Allen Payne stepped onto the court with bigger arms and broader shoulders, adding 20 pounds to his 6-foot-6 frame this off season.
It certainly looks like a new team from the one that was on the court one year ago, but for newcomers and returning veterans, the biggest difference with these new-look Tigers lies with something intangible.
"The chemistry wasn't there," said junior guard K.T. Harrell. "I think that played a big role in it. Everybody wasn't buying into it, but I think this year we've got a group of guys who are committed to winning. And we all get along with each other, the chemistry is there, and that's important. We've got a group of guys who are competitive."
Harrell will make his Auburn debut this fall, after sitting out last season per NCAA rules following his transfer from Virginia. After redshirting last year, the Montgomery native from Brewbaker Tech will have two years to play once the season begins.
Harrell is only one part of the new talent ready to shake things up as the Tigers reset from last season's disappointing performance, but according to head coach Tony Barbee, each of those newcomers has found a way to fit in with the team and build chemistry through summer workouts.
"It's still early," Barbee said. "It's still developing. But the energy and the camaraderie in the practices has been night and day from what it has been. It's at a high level. The guys are not only competing, but they're competing together, they're having fun, they're cheering for each other."
The Tigers started practice earlier this week, getting a head start on most of the country thanks to an NCAA rule allowing them to begin practice early and prepare for an upcoming set of exhibition games in the Bahamas in August.
"Even though it is July, it's on such a different level right now," Payne said. "We're doing stuff. We're not having to force guys to be with each other off the floor. We all like each other, and we all respect each other. Even when conflicts come up -- because it's a group of 15 guys, it's going to happen -- we're able to solve those because we like each other so much."
Payne and the Tigers will first put that to the test in the Bahamas in exhibition games against a pair of professional teams from the Bahamas Basketball Federation. Auburn will face the Real Deal Shockers at 9 p.m. Aug. 6 and the Bahamas All-Stars at 7 p.m. Aug. 8.
The Auburn women's basketball team took on a similar series of exhibition games last summer in Australia.
Thanks to that upcoming trip to the Bahamas, the men's team can get started early trying to erase the disappointments from last season.
"I think there's definitely motivation," Harrell said. "I don't think guys look back at (last season) and hold their heads down, be ashamed or anything like that. I think they look back at it, we all look back at it and say, 'We're going to improve. We're going to be a better team.'"
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