Auburn University Tigers Men's Basketball
For over a century, the Tigers men's basketball team has been a distinguished presence on the Auburn University campus. The team has appeared in the NCAA Tournament an impressive 12 times, including its first-ever Final Four bow in 2019, and won five regular-season conference championships as well as taking home two SEC Tournament titles. Since 2014, the Tigers have been coached by Bruce Pearl. Auburn plays home games at Neville Arena, a 9,121-seat, multipurpose venue on Auburn's campus that opened in 2010 as a replacement for Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum. The $86 million project offers state-of-the-art amenities for fans — there's a dedicated lobby, entrance and snack area just for Auburn students, who sit in the lower bowl in an area affectionately called the Jungle. And athletes have it good, too: players get access to a 13,970-square-foot practice facility and weight room.
Auburn University Tigers Men's Basketball History
Auburn University fielded a men's basketball program starting with the 1905–06 season. The first team was coached by Mike "Iron Mike" Donahue from inception until 1921. Between 1933 and 1942 (and then the 1945–46 season), the Tigers were coached by Ralph "Shug" Jordan, who is also famous for being a dynamic Auburn football coach. Other notable coaches include Sonny Smith — an Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee who took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament five years in a row, between 1984 to 1988 — and Cliff Ellis, who earned both SEC and National Coach of the Year honors in 1999.
As for players, Auburn's most famous alum is Charles Barkley, the dynamic and outspoken Philadelphia 76ers star who now works as an NBA broadcaster. Other famous players who have passed through the program include the Person brothers, Chuck and Wesley, as well as former NBA players Mike Mitchell and Chris Morris. Auburn has squared off against in-state rival Alabama since 1948, and the winner of their matchup wins the Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Award. Major Auburn competitors include Georgia (their rivalry dates back to 1908) and UAB.