Opinion: Will Bruce Pearl and Auburn return back to the National stage?

The No.1 overall team in college basketball has become one of the best programs over the last decade, including the last couple of years.

The Auburn Tigers reached the Final Four in this year’s March Madness tournament, but fell short of the Florida Gators, who eventually went on to win the National Championship.

And while head coach Bruce Pearl brought the Tigers to their second Final Four appearance since he was hired, the question still remains: will Paul and Auburn ever do it again?

The answer to that question isn’t as complicated as you may think. Some people don’t realize how much Pearl has changed this program since joining the coaching staff.

Before Pearl arrived in 2014, the Tigers finished with a record below .500 in 12th of the previous 15 seasons.

It was getting to the point where the average attendance to the basketball games were less than 65% of their home arena.

Auburn basketball was at an all-time low until Coach Pearl stepped in and changed the program forever.

Pearl has transformed Auburn into a basketball program that is consistently competitive at the highest level.

They have two Final Four appearances as well as multiple SEC regular season championships and multiple SEC tournament championships.

The biggest factor in terms of Auburn's future will be their returning players and who they can acquire in the transfer portal.

Auburn is losing a lot of talent this all season including Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Denver Jones.

And they may potentially lose some more talent as well, but there is a chance that certain players like Tahaad Pettiford, Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson return next season.

Pettiford announced that he would enter the NBA draft process, but still maintain his college eligibility. He did confirm that if he does in fact return to college, that it will definitely be with Auburn.

Because of the NCAA tournament, Auburn wasn’t able to focus on recruiting from the transfer port as much, but now that the tournament is over, they can start shifting their focus towards building their roster.

The Tigers have already acquired Keyshawn Hall from UCF. Hall averaged just under 19 points a game last season, which will make him a very valuable addition for next year’s team.

The current Auburn roster is built on elite transfers which makes Hall a very good fit for the team.

Some of the big names currently in the transfer portal are St. John’s RJ Luis, Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams and North Carolina’s Ian Jackson.

Auburn will definitely need to look to acquire a high level center as they are losing Broome.

Some names to look for are College of Charleston’s Ante Brzovic, Wake Forest’s Efton Reid and Grand Canyon’s Duke Brennan.

If Coach Pearl can continue his magic in the transfer portal like he’s done in previous years, there is no guarantee that Auburn will continue with dominance in all of college basketball.

Massimo Buonagurio is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at mkb6750@psu.edu.