The downfall of Auburn this season has been a fascinating case study of how to tank a program with one bad hire. After going toe-to-toe with Florida in the Final Four last year, Auburn opted to go the nepotism route and hire Steven Pearl once his father Bruce stepped down.
The Tigers knocked off the Gators this season in Gainesville, but in the weeks since, the Gators have climbed back to a No. 1 seed while the Tigers are begging for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. And now with the latest allegations floating around, it’s clear that while Auburn won the battle, they are well on their way to losing the war.
Florida fans can only laugh at Auburn’s desperation
As if having your father beg on national television to include you in March Madness isn’t bad enough, and as if trying to ride Florida’s coattails while ignoring 15 other losses isn’t bad enough, Steven Pearl has found a new way to embarrass himself.
Queens University won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament this week, and they will be heading to the NCAA Tournament. On Wednesday, their head coach Grant Leonard went on social media and made a claim that an unnamed SEC assistant coach bought courtside seats during the tournament to “get ahead” of recruiting players from Queens when the transfer portal opens up.
Sluthes on social media went and rewatched the games and determined that Auburn assistant coach Ian Borders was indeed courtside during the tournament.
Whether or not this is technically legal, it’s super shady and also reeks of desperation. Pearl wasn’t exactly qualified for the Auburn job, but got shoehorned in thanks to nepotism. Now that his own warts and flaws are on full display, he’s forced to resort to gimmicks to try to keep his ship afloat before Auburn fans completely turn on him.
And compared to Todd Golden, who stated last season he wasn’t portal shopping while the NCAA Tournament was going on so that he would focus on winning a national title, the only reason Auburn needs to get a jump on recruiting for 2026-27 is that their own season has gone south.
So congratulations, Auburn, for getting your one shining moment in January. Florida will make sure to reference you in the footnotes in the season-end guide.