MOUNTAIN BROOK \u2014 After a wave of departures from last season’s Final Four roster, Auburn basketball entered the offseason in reload-and-replace mode. <\/p>\n
Returning just one player from last season\u2019s roster: point guard Tahaad Petfiord, who opted to return to the Plains after going through the NBA Draft process, Auburn\u2019s staff had a significant challenge of building a championship-level roster to compete in a grueling SEC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auburn brought in a plethora of guys through the transfer portal and high school ranks. The Tigers\u2019 portal haul ranked ninth in the country, per 247Sports\u2019 recruiting rankings, highlighted by none other than Keyshawn Hall from UCF.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward was a huge splash, committing to the Tigers during their Final Four trip to San Antonio. He was the Big 12\u2019s leading scorer a season ago, notching 18.8 points per game and a team-best 7.1 rebounds with the Knights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s certainly nothing new for the Tigers to have an elite four-man. Chuma Okeke, JT Thor, Jabari Smith and even Johni Broome are just a few names who were a force to be reckoned with down low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auburn head coach Steven Pearl sees no difference in Hall. In fact, Pearl believes he\u2019s a mold of all of them put together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKeyshawn has got a mold of all those guys. As far as his ability to shoot the ball, 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,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cHe can really put the ball on the floor and get to the rim and create contact and score through contact. He’s really quick, really versatile, but I think he’s an interesting combination of all four of those guys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Hall possessing the ability to get to the basket, really at will, he draws a lot of fouls. Hall shot 81.6% from the free-throw line last season and set the UCF single-season record with 199 free throws made. He converted on 10 or more free throws in eight games, knocking down 14 against Oklahoma State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a guy who’s going to get to the foul line. He does a really good job of drawing contact and drawing fouls, similar to what Johni would do. Shoots a really good percentage from the free-throw line. So, he\u2019s very versatile,\u201d Pearl said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite all the accolades and impressive stats Hall has collected throughout his career, he is still being overlooked as one of college basketball\u2019s premier players. On3 Sports listed Hall at No. 81 on its list of top 100 basketball players ahead of the 2025-26 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hall took that as a sign of disrespect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe sees the headlines,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cHe\u2019s hungry. He\u2019s ready to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hall will make his Auburn debut on Wednesday night in an exhibition game at Boutwell Auditorium against Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
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