Alright, so I spent some time last weekend watching some AU players and a handful of recruits play pick-up ball inside Auburn Arena. It was not a sanctioned event; no coaches were present. It was a bunch of guys playing ball.
Here are my observations of the guys you don't already know:
AUSTIN WILEY, C
He looked fantastic. Wiley, a Class of 2017 commit, wasn't the best player on the floor, but he was in the top 3. (I thought Danjel Purifoy and Jared Harper were better.) Wiley won't blow you away in transition because he lumbers a little bit, which isn't a problem considering he's already 6-foot-10. He will blow you away with his refinement near the bucket. He understands positioning, he understands how to high-point rebounds. He competes at a high level. Wiley also understands good risks from bad risks in the paint; he rarely was settling for a more difficult shot when an easier one was available. That sounds like common sense, but it's not. Nobody on the floor this day could stop him on the scoring end.
JARED HARPER, PG
I thought he was the best player on the floor. Harper showed incredible consistency with his outside shot, which is what separates him from Tahj Shamsid-Deen. They're similar kinds of players in terms of dribbling expertise, quickness, size, general temperament. Shamsid-Deen was a fantastic defender before the shoulder injuries robbed him of a career. Harper doesn't seem up to that level, though sometimes it's tough to gauge defensive capabilities during pick-up games. Harper's team never lost on this day. It helped that he was paired with Wiley and shooting guard Mustapha Heron, two good scorers, but Harper's tenacity (he held his teammates to a high standard and vocalized that fact) and appropriate level of assertiveness really stood out. Harper looks fantastic.
DANJEL PURIFOY, F
Purifoy surely is one of the best athletes I've ever covered at Auburn in any sport. He's the prototypical "Pearl forward" -- long arms, long legs, good timing, aggressive, smooth in the open floor. He's also a vicious defender in the open floor. He blocked three shots from behind during the three-ish games I watched, pinned one of them against the glass. He's not an awesome shooter, but he's decent. He thinks he has three-point range, but he definitely didn't on this day. Very quick to the basket. Very ballsy with his takes, too. Only issue I see here is a bit of immaturity. Purifoy wasn't exactly an angel in high school. He's hot-headed and he seems to get down when his team is losing. However, he seemed to sense that happening and would jolt himself out of that little downer with a loud exclamation or a big clap or something else conspicuous. Then he'd be right back on the train. Purifoy has some Cinmeon Bowers in him from a personality standpoint. The key difference is that Bowers had a lot of bluster and Purifoy has a lot of talent.
ps: I always knew of him as "Kevon" (ie KEE-von) as a high-school player and he'll answer to that. He laughs when I call him that; not sure why. He said I can, though, so I will.
LaRON SMITH, F
Smith is a graduate transfer from Bethune-Cookman, where he was named his conference's defensive player of the year in 2015. He has the longest arms I believe I've ever seen on a human being. I have alligator arms myself, so I really notice things like that. He averaged three blocks per game last season, which tied him for third among national leaders. Then again, it was the MEAC. He shot 59 percent from the floor last season, 27 percent (??) from the line. What's ever weirder is that Smith clearly spent his entire season in the post and he still only shot 48 free throws. He didn't draw fouls and he didn't get in foul trouble. That tells me that he's a lurker, a sniper when it comes to blocking shots. Not a true enforcer. And that's exactly what I saw inside Auburn Arena.
He slinks in and out of the post, didn't seem interested in doing much with Austin Wiley. He also was playing like your lazy uncle at times -- calling touch fouls on the ball when it was clear to everyone in the arena that no foul had been committed. In fact, the picture above of Jared Harper is the freshman ragging Smith for calling a touch foul.
Not sure what to expect from Smith. He moves well in transition and blocks well as an off-side defender. I didn't see the kind of toughness needed to repel SEC bigs, but it was one afternoon. Nothing else stood out.
RONNIE JOHNSON, PG
Johnson is a graduate transfer from Houston, where he served as a super sub at both point guard and shooting guard. He played in 31 of 32 games, but started only four regular-season games after Christmas. His stats suggest Johnson is a slightly above-average perimeter shooter who doesn't mind taking it to the cup when needed. He's a good free-throw shooter and draws fouls, too. On this day, Johnson didn't play much. I saw him for two games. What struck me about him was his patience. In one case, he drove to the bucket and nothing struck his fancy. So he dribbled across the lane, cut back toward the free-throw line and began another sortie toward the bucket. Smith's head was up the whole time, surveying the scene. He eventually dished across his body to a recruit, who finished things with a contested lay-in. He has a quick release on the jump shot. Lefty.
ANFERNEE McLEMORE, F
Say this of Mac: At least he was willing to challenge Wiley. He's a better jumper than Wiley, so McLemore was able to force the talented commit to do some things he didn't want to do. He's quick and smooth in the open court, appears to be very fit. I couldn't get much of a feel for his scoring game. He's a willing defender, though, and that will help him this fall. He'll surely be behind Purifoy, Horace Spencer and LaRon Smith this fall, so he'll have some time to work out the kinks. With that said, he looked a little better than I expected.
MUSTAPHA HERON, G
Heron was a mess the day I saw him. A good mess. In soccer terms, he has a "high work rate." He runs all over the place trying to raise hell as a defender, which is what I expected. Still, it was crazy to see how energized he was after playing seven or eight games in a row. He seemed more effective off the bounce. He had some success both finishing at the rim and pulling up for mid-range jumpers. Heron also heaved up a few threes, but that wasn't a big part of his arsenal on this day. He was fantastic as a transition defender -- tipping a few balls out from behind unsuspecting dribblers and filling pass lanes and generally being a wrench in the system. He's certainly fearless. If he saw even a sliver of space open between him and the basket, Heron was going to do something with it. He formed a nice team with Harper up top; together they were all but impossible to defend. Lefty.
DESEAN MURRAY, F
Murray is a (traditional) transfer from Presbyterian College and he's an interesting player. He wants nothing more than to drive to the cup and make something happen. I mean, he's fanatical about it. He's not particularly quick off the bounce, yet he kept finding ways to get shots off against taller and quicker defenders. He knows what to do from a variety of angles, positions on the court, direction of travel. It's like he always had another move. Murray is a thick dude, listed by AU at 230 pounds, and it'll take a very bad man to knock him down. He actually reminded me of Chris Denson with a different body. Same attitude. Same mode of operation. The tenacity that makes Murray a good scorer in the paint also will make him at least a solid rebounder.
ADD: He attempted 189 free throws at PC last season, which is a lot. He also hit 76.7% of those free throws, which would have place him second behind Bryce Brown on the Auburn roster.
Murray will be sitting out the 2016-17 season, so you can file this one away for later.
Here are my observations of the guys you don't already know:
AUSTIN WILEY, C
He looked fantastic. Wiley, a Class of 2017 commit, wasn't the best player on the floor, but he was in the top 3. (I thought Danjel Purifoy and Jared Harper were better.) Wiley won't blow you away in transition because he lumbers a little bit, which isn't a problem considering he's already 6-foot-10. He will blow you away with his refinement near the bucket. He understands positioning, he understands how to high-point rebounds. He competes at a high level. Wiley also understands good risks from bad risks in the paint; he rarely was settling for a more difficult shot when an easier one was available. That sounds like common sense, but it's not. Nobody on the floor this day could stop him on the scoring end.
JARED HARPER, PG
I thought he was the best player on the floor. Harper showed incredible consistency with his outside shot, which is what separates him from Tahj Shamsid-Deen. They're similar kinds of players in terms of dribbling expertise, quickness, size, general temperament. Shamsid-Deen was a fantastic defender before the shoulder injuries robbed him of a career. Harper doesn't seem up to that level, though sometimes it's tough to gauge defensive capabilities during pick-up games. Harper's team never lost on this day. It helped that he was paired with Wiley and shooting guard Mustapha Heron, two good scorers, but Harper's tenacity (he held his teammates to a high standard and vocalized that fact) and appropriate level of assertiveness really stood out. Harper looks fantastic.
DANJEL PURIFOY, F
Purifoy surely is one of the best athletes I've ever covered at Auburn in any sport. He's the prototypical "Pearl forward" -- long arms, long legs, good timing, aggressive, smooth in the open floor. He's also a vicious defender in the open floor. He blocked three shots from behind during the three-ish games I watched, pinned one of them against the glass. He's not an awesome shooter, but he's decent. He thinks he has three-point range, but he definitely didn't on this day. Very quick to the basket. Very ballsy with his takes, too. Only issue I see here is a bit of immaturity. Purifoy wasn't exactly an angel in high school. He's hot-headed and he seems to get down when his team is losing. However, he seemed to sense that happening and would jolt himself out of that little downer with a loud exclamation or a big clap or something else conspicuous. Then he'd be right back on the train. Purifoy has some Cinmeon Bowers in him from a personality standpoint. The key difference is that Bowers had a lot of bluster and Purifoy has a lot of talent.
ps: I always knew of him as "Kevon" (ie KEE-von) as a high-school player and he'll answer to that. He laughs when I call him that; not sure why. He said I can, though, so I will.
LaRON SMITH, F
Smith is a graduate transfer from Bethune-Cookman, where he was named his conference's defensive player of the year in 2015. He has the longest arms I believe I've ever seen on a human being. I have alligator arms myself, so I really notice things like that. He averaged three blocks per game last season, which tied him for third among national leaders. Then again, it was the MEAC. He shot 59 percent from the floor last season, 27 percent (??) from the line. What's ever weirder is that Smith clearly spent his entire season in the post and he still only shot 48 free throws. He didn't draw fouls and he didn't get in foul trouble. That tells me that he's a lurker, a sniper when it comes to blocking shots. Not a true enforcer. And that's exactly what I saw inside Auburn Arena.
He slinks in and out of the post, didn't seem interested in doing much with Austin Wiley. He also was playing like your lazy uncle at times -- calling touch fouls on the ball when it was clear to everyone in the arena that no foul had been committed. In fact, the picture above of Jared Harper is the freshman ragging Smith for calling a touch foul.
Not sure what to expect from Smith. He moves well in transition and blocks well as an off-side defender. I didn't see the kind of toughness needed to repel SEC bigs, but it was one afternoon. Nothing else stood out.
RONNIE JOHNSON, PG
Johnson is a graduate transfer from Houston, where he served as a super sub at both point guard and shooting guard. He played in 31 of 32 games, but started only four regular-season games after Christmas. His stats suggest Johnson is a slightly above-average perimeter shooter who doesn't mind taking it to the cup when needed. He's a good free-throw shooter and draws fouls, too. On this day, Johnson didn't play much. I saw him for two games. What struck me about him was his patience. In one case, he drove to the bucket and nothing struck his fancy. So he dribbled across the lane, cut back toward the free-throw line and began another sortie toward the bucket. Smith's head was up the whole time, surveying the scene. He eventually dished across his body to a recruit, who finished things with a contested lay-in. He has a quick release on the jump shot. Lefty.
ANFERNEE McLEMORE, F
Say this of Mac: At least he was willing to challenge Wiley. He's a better jumper than Wiley, so McLemore was able to force the talented commit to do some things he didn't want to do. He's quick and smooth in the open court, appears to be very fit. I couldn't get much of a feel for his scoring game. He's a willing defender, though, and that will help him this fall. He'll surely be behind Purifoy, Horace Spencer and LaRon Smith this fall, so he'll have some time to work out the kinks. With that said, he looked a little better than I expected.
MUSTAPHA HERON, G
Heron was a mess the day I saw him. A good mess. In soccer terms, he has a "high work rate." He runs all over the place trying to raise hell as a defender, which is what I expected. Still, it was crazy to see how energized he was after playing seven or eight games in a row. He seemed more effective off the bounce. He had some success both finishing at the rim and pulling up for mid-range jumpers. Heron also heaved up a few threes, but that wasn't a big part of his arsenal on this day. He was fantastic as a transition defender -- tipping a few balls out from behind unsuspecting dribblers and filling pass lanes and generally being a wrench in the system. He's certainly fearless. If he saw even a sliver of space open between him and the basket, Heron was going to do something with it. He formed a nice team with Harper up top; together they were all but impossible to defend. Lefty.
DESEAN MURRAY, F
Murray is a (traditional) transfer from Presbyterian College and he's an interesting player. He wants nothing more than to drive to the cup and make something happen. I mean, he's fanatical about it. He's not particularly quick off the bounce, yet he kept finding ways to get shots off against taller and quicker defenders. He knows what to do from a variety of angles, positions on the court, direction of travel. It's like he always had another move. Murray is a thick dude, listed by AU at 230 pounds, and it'll take a very bad man to knock him down. He actually reminded me of Chris Denson with a different body. Same attitude. Same mode of operation. The tenacity that makes Murray a good scorer in the paint also will make him at least a solid rebounder.
ADD: He attempted 189 free throws at PC last season, which is a lot. He also hit 76.7% of those free throws, which would have place him second behind Bryce Brown on the Auburn roster.
Murray will be sitting out the 2016-17 season, so you can file this one away for later.
