Before tipoff of Auburn’s final home basketball game, a 64-61 loss to Georgia, the program honored its seniors, who were playing their last game at Auburn Arena.
KT Harrell, Malcolm Canada, KC Ross-Miller and Antoine Mason, who all started their college careers at other schools, were honored at halfcourt, receiving framed jerseys and standing ovations from the crowd. Mason was not in attendance, because of the recent passing of his father, former New York Knick Anthony Mason.
Harrell, the teams leading scorer, said he won’t soon forget his years in Auburn Arena.
“It’s special, man,” Harrell said. “I’ll always value the time I’ve had here at Auburn, even though we haven’t had that much success on the floor. The support that we’ve had has been unbelievable this year. I’ll always take that with me and value that for the rest of my life.”
Though it may have been a lopsided regular season in the win column, the seniors said they are still proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish.
“It is something I take pride in,” Ross-Miller said. “We all wish we had won a couple more games and done better down the stretch, but we have always tried to push each other on and off the court.”
Canada said he agreed.
“This year compared to last year has been day and night,” Canada said. “Coach Pearl gave me the opportunity to play more at another position. He believed in me and so did my teammates. I tried to make the best of it. I think I put myself in a position to be successful.”
Pearl, echoing something he has spoken on all year, said that the support for his team has been unlike he ever expected.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Pearl said. “Last year, in the last home game there have been 2,000 people in here, and now there were 9,000. I think people left and said ‘hey good luck in Nashville.’ With the exception of Kentucky, there’s not a team in that tournament we can’t beat, and so we’ve got to go up there and see if we can shock the world and try and win some games. These kids have not quit. I’m not going to look at the record, I’m not going to look at the streaks, I’m just going to look at the fact that we competed.”
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