Former Auburn basketball standout makes professional debut

This former Auburn Tiger just made his professional basketball debut.

During Bruce Pearl's tenure at Auburn, the basketball program has gone from one of the worst in the SEC to one of the best. Thanks to the turnaround, Auburn has started to get some of the top-ranked players out of high school and the portal.

These highly ranked players have turned into NBA Draft selections for players like Chuma Okeke, Isaac Okoro, Sharife Cooper, JT Thor, Jabari Smith Jr, and Walker Kessler. Thanks to Pearl coming to Auburn years ago, this program is thriving, and this 2023-24 team might just be the best basketball team in the SEC. 

Another former Auburn Tiger recently signed to play professional basketball overseas as former point guard Wendell Green Jr. signed with OKK Novi Pazar of the Serbia Top League. 

In his debut playing in Serbia, Green Jr. scored 35 points to go with five assists, three steals, and three rebounds. 

Auburn had a special team during the 2021-22 season that included the aforementioned Smith and Kessler, who both went on to be first-round picks in the NBA Draft. 

That year, Green Jr. came off the bench but was Auburn's primary scoring threat of the two point guards. He averaged 11.9 points that year, as well as 5.1 assists per game. The five-foot-eleven point guard also shot 32% from three. 

During the 2022-23 season, Green Jr. averaged more points per contest scoring 13.7, but the three-point percentage was worse at 30%. 

Green Jr. will try to make a career out of it playing overseas, and if the former Auburn Tiger can keep playing like he did in his debut, that will become a reality.