Auburn's 2014 roster a 'moving target'; Tigers in danger of exceeding scholarship limit

Bruce Pearl Chuck Person

Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, left, and Auburn legend Chuck Person watch as the Auburn women's team takes on Old Dominion Monday, March 24, 2014, during the second round of the WNIT at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- The bench is getting crowded at Auburn.

Auburn has gained commitments from seven players, including six immediately eligible in the fall, since November and are in danger of exceeding the 13-player scholarship limit. The Tigers added to their haul Wednesday with the commitment of Antoine Mason, the nation's leading returner scorer out of Niagara, and is expected to compete immediately for playing time in the fall.

The question now is how Auburn coach Bruce Pearl makes room for the incoming players. Auburn has room for three additional scholarship players, and will need to make room for four more if the current list of commitments and signees stay on board, according to numbers compiled by AL.com.

Pearl is unable to recruit players -- though his assistants have secured commitments or signatures from seven players -- until his show-cause penalty ends Aug. 24, but said Wednesday he does not plan to set the Tigers' roster until the night before the first game of the season in November.

"It's a moving target and the best two teams in the league historically have been Kentucky and Florida, and historically they've had the best-looking rosters," Pearl told AL.com  before participating in Gus Malzahn's Children's Charity Golf Classic at Moore's Mill Club. "So we're making some adjustments and our returning players have been really willing and had a very active hand when we have prospects come on campus."

Pearl has not eliminated the possibility of redshirting players. At least two players are hobbled this summer -- guard Dion Wade (knee) and forward Matthew Atewe (ankle) -- and center Benas Griciunas and guard Alex Thompson, who was awarded a scholarship by former coach Tony Barbee in January, rarely played last season.

Griciunas played in 12 games, suffered through back problems and averaged 2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Auburn is now in the middle of summer workouts, providing an opportunity for players to re-prove themselves in front of Pearl and his coaches. Point guard Malcolm Canada, a late addition last offseason under Barbee, has shed weight in an effort to remain in Pearl's good graces and earn more playing time.

Meanwhile, McGill-Toolen guard TJ Lang has arrived on campus after signing a financial aid agreement in May.

The Tigers are expected to add transfers Cinmeon Bowers, the top forward on the junior college level, and K.C. Ross Miller, a guard out of New Mexico State, on board later this summer or in the fall. Marshall transfer Kareem Canty committed to Auburn -- again -- after flipping from South Florida. He will have to sit out a season under NCAA transfer rules if he lands at Auburn.

Auburn signed forward Sam Logwood and guard Jack Purchase when Barbee was the coach in November.

"I have no preconceived notions now about who might be a redshirt candidate and who might not be," Pearl said of his current roster. "I want them all competing for starting positions, I want them all competing for the top nine or 10, which is the rotation I'll play and then once we get ready to start that first game, I'll let them know where we're at. This is what the roster looks like and then we'll make some of those decisions."

Departures could also hurt Auburn's Academic Progress Rate in the future, as John Infante of athleticscholarships.net points out. Auburn's four-year score of 940 is above the NCAA's 930 benchmark, but the two best single-year scores (966 and 957) are set to roll off the four-year rotating score in the next two years.

Auburn hit a low with a score of 896 in 2011-12 and 936 in 2012-13. Auburn's 2013-14 score will be released in May 2015.

"Anything less than a 940–945 in 2013–14 would put Auburn under serious pressure to post a very good score in 2014–15 to avoid a 2016–17 penalty," Infante writes.

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