BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was the last stop of the day for Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome at this year's SEC Tipoff event. Williams was doing an interview for social media, holding one of the tiny microphones, and he was being asked everything from his favorite musical artist to who was the best dresser on the team.
The interview ended with one final question. What is the expectation for this Auburn team?
"Win championships," Williams responded.
Williams, who was representing Auburn for the second straight year at SEC Tipoff, was part of a regular-season SEC championship his junior year (2021-22). The Tigers won an SEC Tournament title the year before he arrived (2018-19) and another regular-season conference championship the year before that (2017-18).
This year, Auburn was picked to finish sixth in the SEC by the media.
"That's perfectly fine," Broome said when asked Wednesday if people were sleeping on Auburn. "They can sleep if they want. They're going to get woken up here soon."
With Broome and Williams, Auburn returns two of its top three leading scorers from last year's team. Broome, a preseason First Team All-SEC selection, led the Tigers in points (14.2), rebounds (8.4) and blocks (2.4) per game.
But it's an influx of talent from the transfer portal with Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson along with the addition of freshman point guard Aden Holloway that has head coach Bruce Pearl excited about this year's team. There's depth and competition at every position. So much so that Pearl has yet to nail down his starting lineup.
"I told the team last week that I was going to be letting them know this week who the starting five was," Pearl said. "I've not been asked by one player. We've got so much parity, so much competition at each position, I'm not sure they want to know – which I think is a good thing.
"The bad thing is when the ball gets tossed, our five guys might not be that much better than anybody else's five guys. But when I go to the bench, I'm not dropping off. We will have a 10-man rotation. I've got some tough decisions to make because literally I would say almost nine guys out of the 10 really anticipate that they're going to be the starter."
The Tigers are not just deep. They're experienced, too. Of the 10 players in the expected rotation, eight are upperclassmen. None more than Williams. With one more win, he will become the winningest player in Auburn basketball history – a note Pearl shared with the fifth-year senior on the plane ride from Auburn to Birmingham.
"Whenever we win that first game, it's going to be very special for me and my family," Williams said. "I'm blessed to share that with the Auburn Family."
The only two underclassmen in the rotation are both at point guard, the quarterback of the team, but Pearl is excited about the young duo of Holloway and Tre Donaldson.
"I think quarterback play is pretty important in the SEC," Pearl joked. "It's only the position we're young at. They can both really shoot it. They can both shoot it as well as any of the point guards I've had. The question is will they play-make as well? Will they defend as well? Will they lead a team as well? That's a lot of stuff to be determined.
"They're both very capable. Aden has something special in him, from the standpoint of being a gamer. Tre has some toughness and leadership in him. They're both going to play."
As of Wednesday, Auburn is 20 days out from the season opener. The Tigers will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to face No. 20 Baylor in what is as challenging an opener as they have had since Pearl has been the head coach. But it's the perfect chance for Broome, Williams and the rest of the team to make a statement.
It's the perfect chance to wake people up to this Auburn team.
War Eagle 🦅@AuburnMBB x #SECTipoff pic.twitter.com/JNOP659aPw
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 19, 2023