Bruce Pearl Proud of “Best Basketball Team in Auburn History” after Final Four Loss to Florida
The Auburn Tigers had a nine-point lead against the Florida Gators in the second half of their Final Four matchup, but they saw it evaporate quickly in a flurry by the Gators.
Sports Illustrated – Auburn Tigers
AUBURN — The college basketball world won’t be rid of Chad Baker-Mazara any time soon, but that doesn’t mean it’ll see him playing for Auburn basketball again.
The Tigers’ second-leading scorer during their 2025 Final Four announced Thursday he’s entering the transfer portal ahead of the 2025-26 season, in what’ll be his sixth year of college hoops and fifth at the Division I level.
While it’s unclear where Baker-Mazara will play next, murmurs of a potential return to Auburn began during its run to the 2025 Final Four, with Bruce Pearl acknowledging in late December that both Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones were in their final years of eligibility after playing at the junior college level. An NCAA lawsuit leveled by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia earlier that month resulted in the NCAA granting him and fellow JUCO athletes a blanket wavier for additional eligibility.
In March, Pearl later said that Baker-Mazara “has another year of eligibility.”
Baker-Mazara averaged 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game during the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-7, do-it-all player demonstrated as much in 38 games, posting 14 games with 15 or more points, eight games with five or more rebounds and another eight performances with five or more assists.
He first came to Auburn from Northwest Florida State College, where he averaged 15.2 points on 48.8% shooting. He also grabbed 3.6 rebounds per game to go with 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals and an an impressive 46.9% mark from 3-point range. Previously, Baker-Mazara spent a season each at Duquesne and San Diego State.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.
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