Auburn basketball has officially begun now that the Tigers can start practice, and there's one name on everyone’s mind: Austin Wiley.
Wiley is a former 5-star center for Auburn who is expected to carry the program to the next level. After playing 23 games as a freshman then being ruled ineligible for his entire sophomore year, Wiley was still projected as a second-round pick in the NBA draft last summer.
In large part, his draft evaluation came from his participation on the U-19 USA basketball team during the summer of 2017, when he averaged a double-double. This was on a team that had Cameron Reddish, ESPN's third-best recruit in college basketball last year.
Sliding a player of Wiley’s caliber back into the starting lineup after capturing a regular season SEC title is no small task, especially when the second and third highest scorers on the team come back for another year. Not to mention head coach Bruce Pearl isn’t known for catering towards his big men.
“I’m traditionally more comfortable with small ball,” Pearl said. “Yet I had a team that got one game from the Final Four at Tennessee and it was the biggest team I had. It was the team that was traditionally built. I know we can play both.”
Small ball is an understatement. Last year, Auburn was the smallest team in the SEC with an average height of 6-4 and was the only team to not have one player above 6-9.
Being so small, the Tigers were able to increase the possessions by running their opponents off the floor. This has been a staple throughout Pearl’s time at Auburn and he isn’t worried about Wiley keeping up.
“Austin is such a good athlete,” Pearl said. “We won’t have to slow down.”
The biggest change in the Tigers offense will come from the decrease in pick-and-pops with Wiley on the floor. Last year, Pearl loved to have his bigs set a screen on the ball then drift to the 3-point line for a three.
This strategy effectively made the opposition stretch their defense wider, creating wide-open driving lanes. Desean Murray, Anfernee McLemore and Chuma Okeke all had minutes at center during Wiley’s absence and all shot over 30 percent from downtown, leading to Auburn's No. 23 rank in 3-point attempts.
Wiley has never been a 3-point shooter. He’s never even attempted a three in his collegiate career. Everything about the center from Hoover screams traditional big man, which, in a perfect world, will balance out the offense immensely.
Auburn will be able to give the ball to Wiley on the low block and surround him with shooters so he can dish it out for an open three in case he gets doubled. If not, he’s a talented scorer who is efficient at getting to the line, so a one-on-one matchup close to the basket is favorable. Auburn could use the rise in field goal percentage.
Wiley is to Auburn what Clint Cappella is for the Houston Rockets. Pearl stresses for his team to get threes and dunks, which is on par with what coach Mike D’antoni implements for the Rockets.
Both coaches rely on screens heavily to get them too. The attention that Wiley will draw from the defense by setting a screen will open things up for guards Jared Harper and Bryce Brown, leading to easier drives to the basket or open corner-three assists.
Wiley will also add a much-needed rebounding presence to one of the worst rebounding teams in college basketball last season. The inability to keep the other team from getting offensive rebounds was an Achilles' heel for the Tigers, along with turnovers.
Auburn averaged 15 turnovers a game last year, putting it as the 103rd-worst team in terms of holding on to the ball. According to Pearl, that number could potentially rise with Wiley on the court.
“Right now we’re turning the ball over more than what I would I like to,” Pearl said. “With a better inside game with Austin Wiley and being a little more traditionally big you’re going to turn it over a little bit more, not only trying to get it there but once you get it there. We’ve got to take advantage of our size on the inside without turning the basketball over.”
If the Tigers can limit the turnovers, look for the team to build on what it accomplished last year, this time with Wiley at the helm.
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Bryce Johnson is a junior Journalism major at Auburn University from Santa Monica, CA. He works as a sports writer for The Plainsman.
- @Brycejohnson310
- bzj0020@auburn.edu
