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| Heron (Auburn athletics) |
Sophomore Mustapha Heron had another strong season for Auburn men’s basketball, but the ending wasn’t what he or the Tigers wanted.
Auburn outlasted College of Charleston 62-58 in a first round NCAA Tournament game, but was blown out by Clemson in the second round. Heron played 25 minutes in the Clemson loss before fouling out with 12 points on his ledger.
Auburn ended its season with a 26-8 record. Heron offered a pretty blunt assessment of not just the Clemson game, but the attitude after the SEC regular season title.
“I think we got lackadaisical, settled,” Heron said in a story written by James Crepea for AL.com. “Kind of just, we was happy winning a conference championship then that was it.”
It was an historic season for Auburn, which won a share of the SEC regular season title and went into the conference tournament as the top seed. The Tigers were eliminated by Alabama in a quarterfinal game after receiving a first round bye. Auburn received a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Heron played and started in 32 of the 34 games the Tigers played this season. The former Sacred Heart High superstar led Auburn in scoring for the second straight season at 16.4 points per game. He was also near the top spot in field goal percentage (43.9), free throw percentage (80.3), rebounds (170/5.3 per game) and steals (38).
Multiple media reports say head coach Bruce Pearl expects Heron to go through the NBA Draft process. College basketball players can do workouts and find out where they may be drafted if they leave school, but they remain eligible if they don’t hire an agent.
Justin Ferguson of SEC Country reported that Heron will talk with family, then make a decision.
