Auburn Tigers bow out of NCAA match early, NBA prospect Jabari Smith noncommittal on future

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jabari Smith may very well be the primary choose within the NBA draft, however after one of the dismal outings of his profession Sunday, he wasn’t able to announce plans to go away Auburn.

Smith mentioned he hadn’t but made up his thoughts if he’ll enter the draft after a freshman season that noticed him blossom into one of many nation’s most ferocious scorers. However his feedback within the aftermath of No. 2-seeded Auburn’s 79-61 loss to Miami within the second spherical of the NCAA match actually appeared like an ending.

“I really feel like if I needed to decide a thousand extra occasions, I would not select nowhere else however Auburn,” Smith mentioned. “It was enjoyable.”

Smith is projected to go No. 2 general within the 2022 NBA draft, in accordance with the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz.

If it was Smith’s last recreation with the Tigers, it isn’t one he’ll keep in mind fondly.

In opposition to an attacking Miami protection, Smith completed simply 3-of-16 capturing for 10 factors and the Tigers have been outscored by 20 with Smith on the court docket.

“I had some seems that simply did not fall, however credit score to them, simply making them robust,” Smith mentioned. “Preserving our bodies on me, being bodily with me, sending two individuals. They defended effectively as a group.”

Miami annoyed Smith by sending a cadre of veteran guards — led by junior Jordan Miller — to assault the ball, persistently making Smith pressure uncomfortable photographs. It was a recreation plan the Hurricanes mentioned they’d strategized completely.

“Jabari is a really gifted child, you possibly can inform that,” Miami ahead Sam Waardenburg mentioned. “He is an ideal catch-and-shoot man, and we felt like, if we have been in a position to get him to place the ball on the bottom, we have been at our greatest there. If he turned his again to any of us, we have been going after it.”

Auburn’s frontcourt, anticipated to be a power for the group towards guard-heavy Miami, provided little. Along with Smith’s struggles, Walker Kessler performed simply 13 minutes and he wasn’t on the court docket for the ultimate six minutes of the sport. Head coach Bruce Pearl mentioned that after Kessler bought in early foul bother, Auburn most well-liked a lineup that featured Smith and Jaylin Williams as a substitute.

After the sport, Pearl nonetheless credited Smith with serving to construct one of many faculty’s finest groups in years, even when the Tigers’ match run got here to an early finish.

“He is such an ideal competitor and such an ideal teammate,” Pearl mentioned. “He isn’t egocentric. He is hardworking. He is disciplined. He is a professional. He had an ideal expertise at Auburn, and he made historical past at Auburn. Clearly, I am very, very happy with him.”