Could Allen Flanigan and Jaylin Williams return to Auburn’s roster next season?
Prior to Auburn’s 79-70 win over No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, seven players took part in the annual “senior day” festivities as they prepared to play their final game at Neville Arena.
However, due to the extra season of eligibility that a majority of Auburn’s upperclassmen own, there is a possibility that two starters could grace next season’s roster.
Allen Flanigan and Jaylin Williams have been mainstays in Auburn’s starting rotation all season long and were heavily influential in Auburn’s important win over Tennessee to close out the season by scoring 16 and 13 points respectively.
“Hopefully we can get both of them back,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of Flanigan and Williams after Saturday’s game.
Is there a true possibility of both players returning for next season? Neither has ruled out the possibility.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, both players were asked to share their thoughts on using their extra season of eligibility due to COVID next season.
“Right now, I’m focused on the season and finishing this thing out the right way. Once that comes to an end I will start thinking about the factors then,” Flanigan said Friday during Auburn’s scheduled media availability.
Williams responded by saying that he is focused on ending the season in a strong way.
“Yeah, I haven’t really been thinking about it much,” Williams said. “We have been struggling to win games like the last five weekends. I’m just trying to get on track with my teammates and figure out how we are going to win and play through March.”
Flanigan has played in all 31 of Auburn’s games this season, starting 16 of them. As for Williams, he has started in all 30 games that he has participated in. Other seniors that took part in senior day include Zep Jasper, Chandler Leopard, Lior Berman, Babatunde Akingbola, and Jalen Harper.
