BIRMINGHAM — For the first time since 2014, Auburn basketball had a different head coach stepping to the lectern at the SEC’s Basketball Tipoff.
Steven Pearl, the son of his predecessor, Bruce Pearl, is stepping into Year 1 as the program’s leader, after his father’s retirement Sept. 22. The younger Pearl was immediately elevated when the news was announced, after spending nine seasons in various roles with the program.
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The first three weeks on the job have been like “drinking out of a fire hose,” Steven Pearl said Wednesday, Oct. 15. “For me, I’ve had the fortune of watching BP (Bruce Pearl) do this for 30 years. The day-to-day stuff really didn’t surprise me. I knew what I was getting into.”
His first focus wasn’t so much on him, he said. Instead, it was on his players, and handling any fallout from his father’s stepping down. While one week remains on Auburn‘s 30-day transfer portal window, all 12 of its scholarship players have already reaffirmed their commitment to play for the program this season, which Pearl called “a testament to their teammates and the relationship that they’ve really garnered together this summer.”
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“Our guys came to Auburn knowing that this was what they were stepping into,” Pearl in reference to the Tigers’ nonconference schedule. “They’re incredibly excited about the opportunity. They’re looking forward to the opportunity to show that Auburn is still a team to be reckoned with.”
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Here’s a rundown of Pearl’s comments at the podium.
Steven Pearl sheds more light on Bruce Pearl’s retirement
It has been well-documented that Bruce Pearl had been mulling his retirement for months before stepping away. If anything, it’d been in consideration for years, as athletic director John Cohen said Pearl approached him when he got to Auburn and 2022, indicating he wouldn’t be coaching much longer.
But Steven Pearl shared a little more detail on his father’s decision, saying Bruce Pearl told Cohen he’d be informing them of a retirement two weeks before his final decision, on Sept. 21.
Oct 15, 2025; Birmingham, Alabama, USA; Auburn coach Steven Pearl speaks at SEC Media Day in the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
“It allowed them to have the opportunity to plan for both scenarios,” Steven Pearl said. “BP coming back as the head coach, but also him stepping aside, what we’re going to do with that.”
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Steven Pearl added that Cohen “has been actively, in his mind, getting prepared for this for three years now, going through all the different options of, ‘Do I bring in an outside coaching staff? Do I bring in a big-name guy?”
“He watched this grow, the staff grow as a unit and stay together and not go chasing other assistant jobs, head coaching jobs,” Steven Pearl said. “He ultimately felt like the staff had earned the right and the opportunity to continue to move this thing forward.”
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Some of Auburn’s biggest assets in recent seasons have been Johni Broome and Jabari Smith, and even further back, Chuma Okeke and JT Thor.
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“Keyshawn has a mold of all those guys, as far as his ability to shoot the ball,” Pearl said. “I would say the one area that Keyshawn is probably ahead of all those guys is his ability to put the ball on the floor, get to the rim, get contact, score through contact. He’s really quick and versatile. He’s an interesting combination of all four of those guys in his ability to score the ball.”
Oct 15, 2025; Birmingham, Alabama, USA; Auburn player Keyshawn Hall gets ready for his appearance at SEC Media Day in the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
When Hall transferred to Auburn in April, it was following a season which he led the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per per game, while shooting 42.7% from the field and 35.4% from distance. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior has played at three different schools in his career and spent time at nearly every position on the court.
“If you put a smaller guy on him, he’s going to be able to post him up,” Pearl said. “If you put a bigger guy on him, he’s just going to drive right around you. His ability to play both three (small forward) and four (power forward) is something we’re going to work with this year.”
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How KeShawn Murphy fits the mold of Auburn basketball big men
After losing an All-American in Broome to the NBA this offseason, Auburn brought in another SEC big man to fill his shoes.
KeShawn Murphy spent the previous three seasons at Mississippi State, and the Birmingham native averaged a career-high 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Bulldogs last season. His history as a player is part of what drew him and the program together.
Oct 15, 2025; Birmingham, Alabama, USA; Auburn player KeShawn Murphy takes the interview stand at SEC Media Day in the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
“He was a shooter in high school,” Pearl said. “He was a guard. He had guard skill sets. … He showed in our scrimmage Saturday, made three 3s in our scrimmage. He’s shown the ability to stretch the floor and make the defense respect him out there.”
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In Starkville, Murphy shot 20.7% from 3-point range, attempting 87 triples. He had a career-high nine 3s his freshman season.
“I’m really excited for him, because while he was really effective at Mississippi State, considering what our fives (center) do in our system,” Pearl said. “We allow our guys the confidence and the freedom to be able to step out and spread it. If they give the effort and energy on the defensive end, we’ll allow those guys to have a lot more freedom on the offensive end. … He always had the skill set, and he’s really excited to show moving forward.”
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What Auburn basketball coach Steven Pearl said at the SEC Tipoff
