Steven Pearl is already trying to woo the top 2028 recruit to Auburn Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Auburn Hosts No. 1 Basketball Recruit, First of Steven Pearl Era

Originally posted on Auburn Tigers on SI | By Brooks Crew | Last updated Sep 29, 2025 7:33 PM ET

Legendary Auburn Tigers basketball head coach Bruce Pearl often made headlines with his recruiting, whether with players like Tahaad Pettiford, Simon Walker, Kaden Magwood, or any of the others he landed in his 11 years with the Tigers. His son, new Auburn head coach Steven Pearl, has wasted no time in following in his footsteps.

Saturday, RecruitNews on X announced that AJ Williams, the No. 1 recruit in the 2028 class, had made an unofficial visit to Auburn. This is a substantial start for Steven Pearl’s era as the head coach of the Tigers, and could prove to be an early indicator of continued Pearl recruiting dominance.

Williams stands alone atop the rankings in the 2028 class, and though his potential time at Auburn is still a ways off, it’s certainly reassuring to see that Pearl has already begun to look to not just his first year with the Tigers, but the many more that he hopes will follow.

Williams isn’t the only one checking out Auburn’s new head coach, though. Caleb Holt, a 2026 five-star small forward from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will make an official visit to Auburn on October 10th, joining Alabama-committed four-star Christopher Washington, who will visit that same day.

Later on in the recruiting cycle, two more top-level recruits will also make their way to the Plains, namely Monteverde Academy small forward Kevin Thomas and Lawrence Academy small forward Alex Egbuonu, both of whom currently stand at four stars.

In fact, all of the recruits that are set to visit the Plains, including Williams, are small forwards. This could prove to be a very knowledgeable move from Pearl, as the Tigers are certainly hurting for guard/forward hybrids with the losses of Johni Broome, Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, and more.

Simply put, Pearl is in an opportune moment to prove to anyone who believed recruiting would be a boon for the new Tigers. His recruiting will give him a significant opportunity to step out of his father’s shadow before he even coaches his first game in Neville Arena, but he’ll have to land the recruits first.