Who’s the MVP for Auburn’s Final Four squad? Vote now.
The Auburn Tigers have reached the Final Four for the first time in school history. This group of players have put together a run like few before them over the last month.
Kentucky routed them by almost 30 points on Feb. 23 and the Tigers haven’t lost since, including a win over Kentucky to punch their ticket to the Final Four.
Auburn’s win made waves across the sports community. Charles Barkley even shed a tear.
A large part of that has been due to a tremendous effort by a select group of players on the team.
We want to know: Which player in the Final Four Squad should be MVP?
Vote in our poll below, and get to know the Ledger-Enquirer’s Auburn MVP finalists.
Bryce Brown: The senior guard was the team’s leading scorer this season, averaging 16 points per game. He is deadly from the three-point range. Opponents will play dearly if they give Brown space to move. Against Kentucky in the Elite Eight, Brown scored 24 points — 67 percent shooting from the floor — including four three-pointers..
The sharpshooter scored 25 points against Kansas and was key in the Tigers win over Tennessee in the SEC title game, scoring 19 points.
Jared Harper: Harper seems to always know where his teammates — and his opponents — are on the floor. There were times throughout this run that he made the smartest play, whether it be taking a foul, passing to an open teammate or cutting to the basket for an easy layup.
His basketball IQ has been on full display on the national stage. He dropped 26 points against Kentucky, leading the team in scoring. Against North Carolina in the Sweet 16, he had nine points and a team high 11 assists.
Chuma Okeke: While the hashtag now is “#DoitforChuma”, Okeke has done it all season for the Tigers. He went down with an awful injury against North Carolina but finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in that game. This was easily his best game of the tournament and one of the best of the season.
A lot of Okeke’s impact doesn’t show up in the stat sheet every game. He adds another element to the Auburn offense as an athletic big man who is actually a really good passer.
An underrated part of his game is his ability to create turnovers. In the three tournament games he played in, Okeke came up with nine total steals and finished with 69 in the season. He was the team’s third scoring option, number one rebounder and shot blocker this year.
Bruce Pearl: The man pulling the strings has put on a masterclass in how to coach a team to a final four this season. He seems to keep emotions in check while he and his assistants have put together a flawless game plan thus far in the tournament. He has also made some serious halftime adjustments.
Against Kentucky, PJ Washington was destroying the Tigers all over the court in the first half. He had 15 of his game high 28 in the first half. In the second half and overtime, they forced Washington into tough situations and simply denied him the ball more.
He also hasn’t been afraid to give his guards the ultimate green light to take over a game. He recognizes that Brown and Harper can lead the Tigers to the title.