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Auburn Sends Message to Bruce Pearl Assistant After Big Career Announcement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 7:47 PM ET

Under Bruce Pearl’s guidance, the Auburn Tigers finished with a 32-6 overall record and a 15-3 mark in Southeastern Conference play last season, earning the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reaching the Final Four for the second time in program history.

Along the way, Auburn captured the Maui Invitational title, secured its sixth SEC regular-season crown and was ranked No. 4 in the AP poll by season's end.

As the team prepares for another deep run in 2025-26, Pearl announced on Friday that Ian Borders, a key member of his staff since 2018, would be elevated to assistant coach for the men’s program.

Shortly after, Auburn took to X to celebrate the milestone, posting simply, "Much deserved " in recognition of Borders’s steadily expanding role.

Much deserved

: https://t.co/okwHh3KmVF pic.twitter.com/B3irf0ByeP
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) June 6, 2025

Borders arrives at his new role with a well-rounded resume.

A 2007 graduate of the University of Louisville, Borders added two more degrees from Western Kentucky (2010, 2015) and completed a master’s in sport management at Florida State in 2017.

He started in coaching as an assistant at South Oldham High School (2010-15), then moved up to the Division I ranks as a graduate assistant under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State (2015-17) before taking on video coordination duties at Little Rock (2016-18) and Auburn (2018-23).

In his first season on The Plains, Borders oversaw video operations during Auburn’s magical run to the 2019 Final Four, where the Tigers became the only school to knock off Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina in consecutive NCAA Tournament games.

He then transitioned to Director of Scouting and Recruiting, where he helped Auburn compile three straight 25-win seasons (2018-2021).

In his new capacity as assistant coach, Borders will add player development, scouting and recruiting duties to his portfolio.

By rewarding a coach who has labored behind the scenes for seven seasons, Pearl reinforces a culture of loyalty and earned opportunity.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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