What to know about Auburn basketball's newcomers, from Aden Holloway to Chaney Johnson

AUBURN — After winning 21 games and helping his team reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl was forced to reload his roster this offseason.

Wendell Green Jr. elected to pursue a professional career, Zep Jasper ran out of eligibility and a quartet of players — Stretch Akingbola (George Washington), Allen Flanigan (Ole Miss), Yohan Traore (UC Santa Barbara) and Chance Westry (Syracuse) — hit the transfer portal.

In their place, Pearl went out and secured the signatures of a five-star freshman and four transfers, two of which came from junior colleges. Here's a rundown of the newcomers as the Tigers are set to host an exhibition against Auburn-Montgomery in Neville Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. CT).

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Aden Holloway (Prolific Prep)

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 178 pounds

A smaller point guard from Prolific Prep in Napa, California, five-star freshman Aden Holloway was the only player to sign with the Tigers in the Class of 2023. He was rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 18 player in the cycle and committed to Auburn in August 2022.

Holloway is best known for his abilities to play fast and connect on shots from 3-point range, akin to the classic point guards of Pearl's tenure on the Plains such as Jared Harper and Sharife Cooper. His small frame could present issues defensively, but he can fill it up on the other end.

"Aden brings an ability to really shoot the ball," Pearl said Monday. "He's got some wow factor in his game, but he's still a freshman quarterback."

Chaney Johnson (Alabama-Huntsville)

Height: 6-foot-7

Weight: 220 poinds

Unranked by the major recruiting websites coming out of Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama-Huntsville transfer Chaney Johnson committed to UAH coach Jon Shulman and spent two seasons with the Chargers before he hit the portal and pledged to play at Auburn in April.

Johnson, who is an athletic piece with a high motor, is in a battle with Jaylin Williams to be Auburn's starting power forward. He averaged 15.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at UAH last season.

"He is going to be one of the better players in our league this year or next," Pearl said in September. "I really like our frontline. I love our depth."

Denver Jones (Florida International)

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 205 pounds

Only 26 players in Division I basketball averaged 20 or more points last season. Auburn now has one of them.

Denver Jones, who played two years with the Golden Panthers, averaged 20.1 points per game in the 2022-23 campaign, finishing the season shooting 47.8% from the field, 37.1% from beyond the 3-point arc and 84.5% from the charity stripe.

"Denver Jones is a very versatile player," Pearl said. "He can do it at both ends of the floor; he can do it off the bounce; he can do it at the foul line, from 3. (He can) play make. He's a really, really solid combo guard that's got a chance to be one of our better players."

Chad Baker-Mazara (Northwest Florida State College)

Height: 6-foot-7

Weight: 180 pounds

The biggest thing that sticks out about Chad Baker-Mazara is the rate at which he made 3-pointers last season, as a whopping 46.9% of his triples found the bottom of the net under coach Steve DeMeo at Northwest Florida State College last season. He's also previously spent time at Duquesne (2020-21) and at San Diego State (2021-22).

Baker-Mazara is a native of the Dominican Republic.

"Chad Baker has just got it," Pearl said. "He's got the it factor. He knows how to play. He knows how to move. He's going to have very interesting stat lines. You're going to see him, I think very often, with a very high assist-to-turnover ratio. You're going to see him blocking some shots. You're going to see him really high in the plus/minus categories because he makes a lot of winning plays. He just knows how to play."

Addarin Scott (Navarro College)

Height: 6-foot-9

Weight: 207 pounds

Addarin Scott will likely be stuck behind guys such as Williams, Johnson, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell this season, but he could be a useful piece for the future. He's a Dallas native who spent the last couple of years at Navarro College in Corsicana, where he appeared in 31 games and averaged 9.3 points on 53.1% shooting.

He also pulled down 6.8 rebounds per game to go along with 1.3 blocks.

"Addarin Scott was a late addition to the roster," Pearl said in August. "... He can shoot the ball, he can move well. He hasn't physically yet had the advantages of a high-major program. I think he's going to provide great depth for us, but also he's a guy that's going to get better really, really fast from Day 1 all the way through to we decide who's playing. Addarin Scott is going to improve as much as anybody from August through October."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What to know about Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl's newcomers