Auburn isn’t synonymous with greatness in college basketball, but when the Auburn Tigers went out and hired Bruce Pearl it was looking to become more competitive on the court and on the recruiting trail.
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Over the weekend, Pearl began living up to the second part of that deal as he landed three commits. Topping that group was the nation’s top-rated JUCO point guard, T.J. Dunans, who committed to Auburn after unofficially visiting the campus this past weekend.
It was a huge weekend for Pearl, who got two of the three commitments after his three-year show-cause ban was lifted at midnight on Saturday.
Pearl got two commitments from forwards, but adding a pure scorer on the wing is key to the system Pearl likes to play. Dunans satisfies that role as a 6’5, 190-pound silky-smooth shooter.
He comes to Auburn out of Columbia State Community College and averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 32 games. According to reports, Dunans is a perfect fit as a slasher that likes to get to the line over shooting from distance.
“He has a scorers mentality,” Columbia State head coach Brian Collins said, via Auburn Undercover. “He’s got a great feel for the game. He’s a very good athlete, and he’s active offensively and defensively. The one thing he has to work on is continuing to improve his 3-point shooting.”
Joining Dunans as commits to the 2015 class this weekend were 4-star forwards Horace Spencer and Danjel Purifoy. Those additions moved the Auburn class to No. 9 in the 247Sports national team rankings for the 2015 class.