re: #tAuburnBasketball Thread

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(2+1) SG
- Tyrell Jones (pre Bruce recruited position)
- Jamal Johnson
- * Justin Powell*
(2) SF-
- Allen Flanigan
- Devan Cambridge
(1+1) PF-
-Jaylin Williams
-* Chris Moore*

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Purifoy was suspended damn near half his career.

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AUBURN, Alabama—Coming off a junior basketball season when he was named the USA Today National Player of the Year after leading McEachern High School to a 32-0 season, five-star Auburn signee Sharife Cooper is one of the top prospects in the country for the 2020 class.

“Sharife’s got a chance to be our first McDonald’s All-American,” said Pearl, who has not signed a player selected for that all-star team since taking over as coach at Auburn. Frank Ford, who played for Sonny Smith, was a McDonald's All-American as was Korvotney Barber, who played at AU for Coach Jeff Lebo.

“It’s harder for guys that don’t go to all the brand name schools, the blue bloods, to get into a McDonald’s All-American game. I don’t mind saying it publicly because it’s true, and it’s wrong," Pearl said.

“I’m hoping that Sharife Cooper’s ability, his championship a year ago in high school, the incredible leadership he’s shown on the EYBL circuit for Nike and the excellence of his play puts him in a position once again to be a McDonald’s All- America, even though he went to Auburn.”

Sharife Cooper
Sharife Cooper is an Auburn signee. (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Inside The Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)


A player who Auburn started recruiting when he was in the ninth grade, Cooper averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 assists, six rebounds and 4.1 steals per game as a senior. During the run to the Class AAAAAAA state championship, the 6-foot, 160-pound point guard produced four 40-point games and averaged 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals against USA Today Super 25 opponents. That led to McEachern being named the top high school team in the country with a roster that included Isaac Okoro, who is starting as a freshman this season at Auburn.

Putting the same faith in Jared Harper on the recruiting trail when he arrived at Auburn, Pearl said Cooper’s game will translate well to the college game and in this system. With the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter and also beat people off the dribble, Cooper is a point guard that can also score points in bunches.

“Sharife Cooper is a national champion,” Pearl said. “He was the player of the year in the country last year. He could have gone anywhere and been the point guard. The common denominator with this group—and I think with our success over the last couple of years in recruiting—has been that we got there early. It became real fashionable to recruit Sharife Cooper two years ago, but it wasn’t four years ago when he was very undersized.

“We told you that Jared Harper was going to be worth the price of admission, and you could say that again when it comes to Sharife Cooper, but and his family appreciate the fact that we were first and really, truly believed in him. He’s special, he’s unique, he’s rare. A great competitor. All he wants to do is win. Makes everybody else around him better.”

Cooper was joined in Auburn’s early signing class by 6-6 guard Justin Powell and 6-6, 220 forward Chris Moore. Moore helped his team to the state semif-inals behind 17.2 points per game on 63 percent shooting from the floor. He also added 13.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 blocks per game as a junior.

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NAZ Suns
@nazsuns
Jared Harper led all scorers once again, and now holds the record for most points scored (81) in a Suns player’s first three games in team history!

@Therealvinoo

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