He did no such thing when it came to discussing his tenuous job security after Auburn’s 78-69, season-ending loss to Florida on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

His players filled the void for him.

“He’s a great coach,” senior forward Lucas Hargrove said. “Going into the new arena, I feel like he should definitely have a chance.

“I think he should get many more years.”

Lebo’s end-of-season meeting with athletic director Jay Jacobs will expectedly come earlier than both had hoped. The Tigers bowed out of the SEC Tournament after the first round for the fourth time in Lebo’s six-year tenure and they are all but assured to go without any sort of postseason invitation for the fifth time in the past six.

Asked to defend his body of work, which includes a 96-93 overall record and a 37-67 mark against SEC opponents, Lebo said it wasn’t the right time.

“We just got done with the game,” Lebo said. “I haven’t really thought about the body of work.”

Auburn’s performance Thursday typified this particular season’s disappointing body of work.

The effort was gritty from the start, when Frankie Sullivan opened with an easy layup, to the end, when DeWayne Reed drove, untouched, coast-to-coast only to botch a dunk as the horn sounded on Auburn’s season.

It was also marred with inconsistencies, the bugaboos that frequently cropped up to produce results such as a 107-89 loss to Sam Houston State, or regressed briefly during a near upset of No. 2 Kentucky.

Sullivan, the sophomore who came into Thursday’s game with a combined 8 points in the previous two, scored a career-high 27 points. His constant drives to the basket drew “oohs” and “ahs” from the largely pro-Auburn crowd and provided a glimmer of hope for the future, when Sullivan will be the lone returning starter on next year’s team.

But then there was Tay Waller, who came into Thursday’s game red hot, averaging 25.6 points in his past five games.

He finished with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting.

“Just a unique thing for Tay with the way he’s been playing,” Lebo said. “To not score in this game … you wouldn’t have that if we played 30 more games.”

On Wednesday, Florida (21-11) coach Billy Donovan pointed out to reporters that Auburn was the only SEC team — aside from Kentucky, of course — that held a lead or a tie in the second half of all its conference games.

So it was somewhat fitting that the Tigers would do neither in the second half Thursday.

Florida stormed out to a big, early lead thanks to a 20-5 run. Aside from a few tense moments, like when the Tigers got as close as 42-41 with a 10-2 run to start the second half, the Gators had complete control from beginning to end.

Auburn (15-17) made just four of its 25 3-point attempts, while allowing Florida to pick up seemingly endless easy dunks and layups in the paint.

“With a shooting team, if you can try to disrupt their flow a little earlier, you can disrupt some 3’s from going in early,” Donovan said. “Sometimes you have a better chance of stopping it.”

Nothing will stop the swirling speculation of Lebo’s job status in the coming days. It won’t go away until a verdict is reached after Lebo’s meeting with Jacobs, which could happen as soon as today.

Along with the fans, Auburn’s players will be waiting for an answer.

“I like playing for him. He’s a great coach,” Sullivan said. “Whatever happens, happens.”

agribble@oanow.com| 737-2561

He doesn’t know. And if he does, he’s not talking.

Neither is Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs. At least not Thursday, or the days leading up to it.

Lebo’s future is uncertain, at best. Actually, depending on who you talk to, it ranges anywhere from cloudy to really, really, really cloudy, especially after the Tigers’ 78-69, opening-round SEC Tournament loss to Florida on Thursday night.

The loss finished up Lebo’s sixth season on the Plains, where he’s 96-93 overall and 37-67 against SEC opponents.

By now, you know his stat line: winning just 36 percent of his conference games, only one postseason tournament to his credit (the NIT last year), no NCAA Tournament appearances in six years and only two SEC Tournament wins in that timeframe.

But, again, don’t look for Lebo to shed any light on what happens next. For the fourth time in the last week, Lebo only offered that he would meet with Jacobs.

Nothing else.

“We’ll meet like we always do at the end, like most head coaches and ADs meet,” Lebo said during his postgame press conference. “We’ll have our discussion. That will be private.

“It will happen at some point here soon, I’m sure.”

That’s about the only thing we do know for sure. A meeting will happen. Soon. Possibly today.

Anything else is anyone’s guess. And let me just say, I’ve heard them all. Everything from he’s staying to he’s going.

What will actually happen? Again, we’ll find out soon.

After talking to some of his players Thursday night, though, the consensus is that he should stay.

“I think he should still be here, because he’s a good coach,” senior guard Tay Waller said.

“I haven’t heard too much about it, but in my opinion he’s a great coach,” senior forward Lucas Hargrove said. “I think he should get many more years. … I think he’s a great coach and, going into the new arena, I feel like he should definitely have a chance.”

Will it happen? Well, something’s got to.

In the world of college athletics, it’s all about “what have you done for me lately?”

Auburn is one of just two SEC programs in the last six years to not make the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn made the commitment to basketball when it decided to break ground on the $92.5 million Auburn Arena, which will open next season.

Money talks just as loudly as wins, and Jacobs and Auburn spoke up when they started construction on the new facility.

Now, what will they say about the basketball coach? About the future of the program?

Will Lebo lead the Tigers into their new digs? Will next year’s recruiting class be the one that finally helps him turn the corner? Will the new arena, followed by another vote of confidence be what lifts the program? Does Lebo deserve another chance to try and make that happen?

All fair questions.

Or will it be someone else? A new coach with a new outlook and a new style? Will it be a fresh face, or perhaps a familiar one who knows the Auburn dynamic?

Again, all fair questions.

Questions Jacobs has to answer, if he hasn’t already.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at mszvetitz@oanow.comor 737-2513.

There are, of course, exceptions and opportunities that would be too good to overlook.

Coaching at a major college in a major conference would be one of them, Person said Thursday.

“Obviously, the pros would be my first choice, but if I could get a good college job in a good conference, yeah, I would look into it if the opportunity presents itself,” Person said Thursday at Bridgestone Arena, shortly after receiving the SEC Legends honor during halftime of Auburn’s season-ending loss to Florida.

“I think I’m kind of institutionalized when it comes to the pros — 15 years as a player and 10 as a coach or an executive in the front office. But if the opportunity presents itself, like any coach, you want to be a head coach at the highest level.”

Person, Auburn’s all-time leading scorer, is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers, serving as a special assistant to NBA legend Phil Jackson. He’s also served as an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings since retiring from the league in 2000.

With Jeff Lebo’s job status in limbo following the Tigers’ seventh consecutive season without an NCAA Tournament berth, Person has been considered by some fans as a desirable replacement, should Lebo be fired.

Person said he has heard rumors about Lebo’s future, just like everyone else, but fully supports the six-year coach.

“I think Coach Lebo has done a good job with the situation he came into and the players he has to work with,” Person said. “But, obviously, you can’t win unless you get players and that’s the main thing.

“The kids are in a situation where Auburn is a football school, so you have to understand the dynamics of the situation in order to realize your prospects of winning when you’re a coach at a school like that.”

The players were the key in saving Sonny Smith’s job in 1985, Person said. Person was a key member of that squad, which underachieved during the regular season but shocked the SEC when it won four games in four days at the SEC Tournament, becoming the first team to ever accomplish the feat.

The Tigers went on to bigger and better things in 1986, rolling through the season and upsetting No. 1 St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out in the Elite Eight.

“You want to be there for the guy who brought you in on the scholarship, so Sonny was a friend to all of us, a father figure,” Person said. “So we were all doing it for him. We found something we can hang our hats on and really play for and that’s what we did.”

Auburn, though, could not rally around the embattled Lebo on Thursday, leaving many to wonder if Person could be next in line.

“Basketball is important to me at Auburn,” Person said. “I understand the football situation there and Auburn can win at basketball as well as football if you get the right players to do it with.”

agribble@oanow.com| 737-2561

The two teams will square off at ASU’s Packard Stadium at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“This is a big series for us to gauge where we are,” Auburn coach John Pawlowski said. “The competition level is ratcheted up this weekend when you are talking about facing a team that is No. 2 in the country. They are very talented and this is a good test. This is what playing in the SEC is all about, going on the road and playing good teams in tough environments.”

Auburn has shuffled its weekend rotation for the series and will send Cory Luckie (0-0, 3.38 ERA) to the hill today for his first start of the season.

He was scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against Alabama, but the rainout allowed Pawlowski to move him to Friday.

Cole Nelson (3-0, 1.40 ERA) has been moved up a day in the rotation to the Saturday start.

Arizona State is going to counter Auburn with a pair of right-handers, sending junior Seth Blair (2-0, 3.38) to the mound on Friday and junior Merrill Kelly (3-0, 4.20) on Saturday.

Neither team has announced a Sunday starter.

* Sunkist is one of the major sponsors of this year’s SEC Tournament. That, and Quaker State. Naturally. But I didn’t even know they still made Sunkist, let alone advertised for it. Seriously. The last time I had a Sunkist (which is an orange soft drink, if you were born after 1996) was when I was like 10. But, you know I had one Thursday. Three, actually. Hey, like the slogan says, it’s 12 ounces of awesome.

* It would have taken a big night, but LSU forward Tasmin Mitchell had 2,000 career points insight. He fell 11 points shy of the goal. Mitchell entered Thursday’s first-round game against Tennessee with 1,979 points. He finished the game — a 59-49 loss to the Vols — with 10. As good as Mitchell has been in his career, and as many accolades as he’s received, I’m sure coming that close to a milestone like that and coming up short has to hurt.

* The least attended game of the day? Well, aside from the 9:45 p.m. late game, which always is empty, it was Auburn-Florida. Shocked? Don’t be. Florida had to travel the farthest, and Auburn, well, you’ve been to Auburn games before. And even though Gainesville is four hours farther south than Auburn, Gator Nation outnumbered Tiger fans from what I saw. But no one had more fans than Kentucky — and the Cats didn’t even play Thursday.

* Auburn’s Frankie Sullivan wasn’t going to go quietly. The sophomore guard went off for a career-high 27 points during Thursday night’s loss to Florida. Only two years on the Plains, and Sullivan has no doubt established himself as the true leader of Auburn’s team — a team with five seniors this year.

Three men and three women will be competing in a total of eight events for the Tigers.

Auburn will be looking to add to the eight top-10 team finishes it has had at the NCAA Indoor Championships under 13th-year head coach Ralph Spry. Tiger athletes have earned 11 individual national championships and 90 All-American honors at the NCAA indoor meet under Spry’s direction.

The Auburn women enter the NCAA Indoor Championships ranked No. 12 nationally in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s top 25 rankings, while the men are ranked No. 17.

“We have a small group going, but a very talented group,” said Spry. “The goal this weekend is for us to leave with all six athletes having earned All-American honors. If we can do that, we’re going to score some pretty good points and we’d have a shot at finishing in the top 10 with both teams. All six athletes that are competing are high on the national list, so I think they all have a good shot at being All-Americans, and if we can do that, we’ll have a pretty solid outcome.”

The Tigers have one of the top sprinters in the field on both the men’s and women’s sides. For the men, sophomore Marcus Rowland enters the competition ranked tied for second in the field in the 60 meters (6.60) and fourth in the 200 meters (20.76). For the women, junior Sheniqua Ferguson enters the meet ranked third in both the 60 (7.22) and the 200 (23.14).

Also for the women, junior Joanna Atkins is fifth in the field in the 400 meters (52.77) and was the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Champion in that event, while sophomore Nivea Smith is ranked sixth in the 200 meters (23.32).

The other two men’s competitors include sophomore Ryan Fleck, who is ranked ninth in the high jump (2.22 meters, 7-3.25) and was the runner-up at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and redshirt freshman Harry Adams, who is tied for 11th in the 60 meters (6.65).

Swimming sends 25 to NCAA Championships
A total of twenty-five Auburn swimmers were selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Championships, the NCAA office announced.

Eight women will represent the Tigers at the women’s championships held March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind., while 17 men will compete at the men’s meet March 25-27 in Columbus, Ohio.

Seniors Maggie Bird, Melissa Marik and Ava Ohlgren will lead the women, seeing the trio compete in three events. Joining them will be junior Caitlin Geary, sophomores Micah Lawrence and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and freshmen Katie Gardocki and Hannah Riordan.

“This is probably one of the smaller teams we’ve had at Auburn on the women’s side,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “Despite the small number, we’re more excited about the quality of athlete we’re bringing to the national meet. They are highly motivated and the team is going to be more focused on their performance than the final team outcome.”

The men are looking to defend their 2009 national title and will be led by six seniors in Jordan Anderson, Will Dove, Gideon Louw, Tyler McGill, Michael Silva and Pascal Wollach. Joining them are four juniors in Adam Klein, Andrew Mitchell, Kohlton Norys and Jared White and four sophomores in Adam Brown, Christopher Fox, Karl Krug and Max Murphy.

Competing in their first-ever NCAA meet will be freshmen Tony Cox, Stuart Ferguson and Kyle Owens. Also traveling with the team will be senior Kyle Maese, who will serve as an alternate for the Tigers.

“The team is excited to defend their title and feel they have a lot to prove in this meet,” Hawke said. “There is a lot of experience on this team and a handful of exciting freshmen to watch. We have a great ability to score points and we’re anxious to get started.”

Diving heads to NCAA Zone B
Members of the Auburn diving team are set to start the NCAA Championship season as the Tigers travel to Atlanta for the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, today-Sunday.

There are five Zone meets taking place this weekend across the country, and these meets give divers a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Zone B will qualify eight women and seven men for the national meet.

The women’s NCAA Championships will be March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind., and the men will compete in Columbus, Ohio, March 25-27.
A trio of sophomores in Anna Aguero, Vennie Dantin and Mary Catherine Cochran will represent the women, while senior Kelly Marx and freshman Thad Ellis will compete for the men.

“This should be a very exciting meet for our team,” head coach Jeff Shaffer said. “We’re well prepared for it. The team is coming off a great SEC Championships and that will really help our confidence.”

Marx, Ellis, Dantin and Aguero represented Auburn at the 2010 SEC Championships and all four qualified for the finals on all three boards.

Marx concluded his final conference meet strong, capturing titles on the 1-meter and platform and being named SEC Male Diver of the Year. Dantin was SEC champion on the 3-meter springboard and runner-up on the platform, while Aguero was runner-up on 1-meter. Ellis, competing in his first-ever SEC meet, was named SEC Male Freshman Diver of the Year.

Cochran advanced to the Zone meet after recording her first-collegiate zone scores on the 1-meter (284.47) and 3-meter (300.38) during the regular season.

Women’s golf heads to Tiger/Wave
NEW ORLEANS — The No. 3 Auburn women’s golf team will head to New Orleans for Spring Break as the Tigers compete at the 2010 Tiger/Wave Classic.

Play is set to begin with tee times at 8 a.m. today.

The Tiger/Wave Classic is co-hosted by LSU and Tulane and will be played at the par-72, 6,132 yard English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans. English Turn is the former host course of the PGA TOUR’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Coming off of a win at the Auburn Invitational, Auburn head coach Kim Evans noted that the season is just beginning for the team.

“We are glad to get the season underway,” said Evans. “We have not had a real chance to start. We have had three rounds of golf and have not been walking or playing like we should. In a weird way, this is what we have been waiting for so we are just going to take it one step at a time.”

At last year’s LSU Golf Classic, Virginia took the team title by carding an 8-under 856 tournament total. Individually, Lucy Nunn of Arkansas earned medalist honors as she defeated South Carolina’s Benedicte Toumpsin and Virginia’s Calle Nielson in a playoff. Nunn finished the event with a 54-hole total of 7-under-par 209.

This weekend, Evans will be the only member of the Auburn family with experience on the course as the Auburn coach has played and watched rounds at the English Turn Golf & Country Club.

“It seems to always be windy and has some smaller greens,” said Evans. “It is a well-designed course and you have to be pretty accurate with your approach shots. We have never played there as a team, so this will be a first for us.”

The Tigers have seen their share of success at the Classic, however, taking wins in 2002 and 2006. The pair of victories places Auburn in a tie for third for the most wins at this particular event.

The five competing players for the weekend will be Cydney Clanton, Candace Schepperle, Patricia Sanz, Haley Wilson and Carlie Yadloczky.

Sophomore Madison Overbey will also compete as an individual.

Leading the team will be Clanton, who has top-five finishes at each tournament this season along with a team-best stroke average of 70.54.

The Concord, N.C., native has collected a pair of individual victories, taking the top-spot at both the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Qualifying and the NCAA Fall Preview. At the Auburn Invitational, Clanton earned a second-place tie following her even-par 72 round.

Following Clanton will be Sanz, who has seen a successful spring thus far. In the two events played, Sanz has finished within the top-15, including a second-place tie at last weekend’s Auburn Invitational. In her past two tournaments, the Madrid, Spain native has lowered her score with each round played.

Auburn’s three-spot player will be Schepperle, the veteran leader of the squad. Schepperle has logged four top-10 finishes this year, most recently at the Auburn Invitational, where she tied for 10th with a 4-over 76 performance.

Also competing for the team are Yadloczky and Wilson, who tied for 18th and 10th, respectively, at the Auburn Invitational. Yadloczky owns a 74.69 stroke average, while Wilson claims a 75.92 mark.

The Tiger/Wave Classic welcomes a field of 23 teams, including nine of the top-25 teams in the March 9 release of the Golf World/NGCA women’s coaches’ poll.

“It is a great field,” said Evans. “It has some top-heavy SEC teams and some top-heavy ACC teams. It is a good field and an incredible golf course.”

The first and second rounds of the three-day event will begin at 8 a.m. today and Saturday, with tee times off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday with a shotgun start.

Other teams competing in the 2010 Tiger/Wave Classic are Alabama, Arkansas, College of Charleston, Furman, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, North Carolina-Wilmington, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Purdue, Tennessee, TCU, Tulane, Central Florida, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.

Auburn’s tee times will run from 8:50-9:30 a.m., today. The Tigers are paired with Georgia, Tennessee and Wake Forest in the first round.

Hobbs on Community Service team
BIRMINGHAM — Auburn junior Reneisha Hobbs has been named to the 2010 Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Community Service Team, the league announced last week at the SEC Tournament.

This marks the 12th year for the SEC Community Service Team for women’s basketball as well as for men’s basketball. All 20 league-sponsored sports have had a Community Service Team since 2004, with at-large teams for men’s and women’s sports being chosen from 1999-2003. The SEC began this concept with a football Community Service Team in 1994.

Hobbs has been involved with several community service projects during her time at Auburn. Along with volunteering at the East Alabama Food Bank and area schools, she has also volunteered at Camp Mountain Top at Lakeview Baptist Church, a summer day camp for handicapped children.

She also helped set up and run the Storybook Farms Kentucky Derby, a fundraiser for the farm’s work with disabled children.

Hobbs, a Huntsville native, missed the 2009-10 season after suffering an injury during preseason practice. She has played in 58 games as a Tiger, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.

Men’s tennis faces Florida, South Carolina
The No. 68 Auburn men’s tennis team takes to the road for a pair of SEC matches today and Sunday.

The Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., today to face the No. 7 Florida Gators at 2 p.m. and then head to Columbia, S.C., for a noon match against No. 50 South Carolina.

“We’re trying to build and get better each and every match we play,” head coach Eric Shore said. “Friday is a big challenge for us in Gainesville and we hope to take what happens there to compete even stronger on Sunday against South Carolina.

“We’ve had some very tough matches over the last couple weeks and I think we’re heading in the right direction. Our team has had some major challenges and they are constantly learning from them.”
Florida holds a 30-14 series record over the Tigers (3-6, 0-2 SEC).

Auburn took last season’s regular season match, topping the Gators, 4-3, at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center on April 12.

The Tigers are 15-10 all-time against the Gamecocks and won last year’s match at home by a score of 6-1.

Not one of the six SEC West teams picked up a single victory against the top four teams in the SEC East. That’s 0-for-24, and includes Florida, which Auburn faces at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Say Auburn upsets the Gators and moves on to play Mississippi State on Friday. The Tigers have only won the SEC Tournament once, in 1985. That was 25 years ago.

When the Tigers won that tournament, they were the first team to ever win four games in four days. Only three teams – Arkansas in 2000, Georgia in 2008 and Mississippi State in 2009 — have repeated the feat.

Auburn hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2003, including all six years under Lebo. That’s the longest drought by any SEC coach, pre-1985, since Ole Miss’ Ed Murphy went the same length of time from 1986-1992 without a trip to the Big Dance.

Murphy never made it to his seventh year.

Those numbers seem to indicate that the logical conclusion to this forgettable season will be the end of Lebo’s tenure, just as the beginning of a new era is set to unfold at the $92.5 million Auburn Arena.

Lebo, as he did Wednesday with reporters in Nashville, has brushed off questions about his tenuous job status, while athletic director Jay Jacobs has declined to comment. Earlier in the season, Jacobs told the Chattanooga Times Free Press it is “certainly the plan” to have Lebo around next season, when Auburn opens up its brand new building.

“I’m focused on this team, and I’m focused on the tournament, focused on Florida,” Lebo said. “That’s where all my energy is going right now, to these kids.

“As in most cases, I think, when the season’s over, I’ll sit down with my AD when the season’s complete, and we’ll have a conversation at that point, but that’s it, that’s kind of where it is right now.”

An exception to the norm
Similar situations to Lebo’s current one with Auburn are tough to find within the SEC, and even major college basketball, because most coaches haven’t lasted as long without making the NCAA Tournament.

Since Lebo was hired in 2004, only three teams — Vanderbilt, Florida and Mississippi State — have gone without a coaching change. Only Ole Miss, which replaced Rod Barnes with Andy Kennedy in 2006, has gone longer without an NCAA Tournament berth, but even the Rebels have made more NIT appearances (two) in the past three years than Auburn (one) has in the past six.

Georgia’s Dennis Felton and Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie were fired one year after making the NCAA Tournament. Mark Gottfried was forced out at Alabama midway through last season, a little more than two years after notching his fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

LSU fired John Brady two seasons after he led the Tigers to the Final Four. Arkansas fired Stan Heath after five mediocre seasons, though the Razorbacks made the NCAA Tournament in his final two with the team.

Lebo is 96-92 overall, 35-61 against the SEC in his six years with the Tigers. His .364 winning percentage against the SEC ranks eighth out of the past 11 Auburn coaches. Only two coaches, Joel Eaves and Ralph “Shug” Jordan, finished their Auburn careers with a winning record against conference foes.

Money on his side
Lebo has one big number on his side when he and Jacobs sit down at the end of Auburn’s season — whenever it may be.

If Jacobs opts to fire Lebo, Auburn would owe him a total of $1.5 million over the next three years. Auburn could have owed Lebo more had it exercised the one-year rollover in his contract over the summer, but Jacobs declined to do so, even after the Tigers notched 24 wins, which tied for second-most in program history, and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.

On top of that, Auburn would then have to find a replacement for Lebo, who currently makes the lowest salary ($785,000 per year) of any coach in the SEC.

On top of potentially paying a buyout to the new coach’s previous school, the going market rate has certainly changed, and it’s assumed that the Tigers wouldn’t keep their new head coach at the bottom of the pay scale.

Of the three new coaches in the SEC this year, Georgia’s Mark Fox makes the least at $1.2 million per year. Alabama’s Anthony Grant makes about $2 million and Kentucky made John Calipari the highest-paid coach in college basketball with an eight-year, $31.65 million contract.

An uncertain future
Auburn isn’t Kentucky, but the Tigers will have to weigh the costs against the benefits of taking a team with the same coach, little momentum and low expectations into the new arena because of an impending dearth of experience.

Though Lebo has the highest-ranked signing class of his time at Auburn arriving in the fall, the Tigers graduate five seniors from this year’s roster. Four of those seniors — Tay Walller, DeWayne Reed, Lucas Hargrove and Brendon Knox — combined to score 79 of Auburn’s 89 points in last week’s win over Mississippi State.

Sophomore Frankie Sullivan, who averages 12.2 points per game, is the lone returning starter. The five other returning players who saw regular action this season have combined to average 11.7 points.

“We’ve had our goods and our bads … but they’ve had their moments,” Lebo said. “There’s been nothing there consistent.”

Two of Auburn’s opponents this season, South Carolina and Virginia, recently opened new buildings. The Gamecocks have been the only SEC team to do so this century, opening the spacious Colonial Life Arena in 2002, while the Cavaliers opened John Paul Jones Arena for the 2006-07 season.

Neither team, like Auburn, came into its new arena with much momentum, but both handled its coaching change one year before its respective new building opened for business.

South Carolina and Eddie Fogler, whom Lebo served as an assistant for before taking his first head coaching job at Tennessee Tech, agreed to “part ways” after the 2000-2001 season, his third consecutive season without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Pete Gillen resigned from Virginia amid speculation that he would be fired after missing the Big Dance for the fourth consecutive season.

Under Dave Leitao, Virginia made the NCAA Tournament in its first year at John Paul Jones Arena, while South Carolina made it one year after Colonial Life Arena’s opening.

Neither team has made the NCAA Tournament since.

A stacked deck
Neither Leitao nor Dave Odom, both of whom have since been fired, had to inherit a program with freshly enforced NCAA probation like Lebo did.

Because of illegal contact made by Cliff Ellis’ staff with prospective players on amateur teams in Huntsville, Lebo, along with a number of other restrictions, lost one scholarship each in 2004-05 and 05-06. Two years later, Auburn, as a whole, came under a dark cloud of negative press after a New York Times story revealed that a number of student-athletes were getting sociology credits without showing up for class.

Lebo’s off-the-court resume, aside from back-to-back subpar Academic Performance Rating scores in 2008 and 2009, has been stellar. The Tigers haven’t sniffed any sort of NCAA trouble and the bulk of Lebo’s players have avoided trouble in the classroom or with the law. The few that have were dealt with strictly.

The circumstances Lebo inherited prompted Auburn to give Lebo an eight-year contract when he arrived at Auburn from Chattanooga. He was promised a new practice facility by his second year, but instead had to settle for a brand new arena seven years later.

It’s anything but certain if he’ll be around to reap the benefits.

agribble@oanow.com| 737-2561

After the MAX Capital City Classic nonconference game against Alabama in Montgomery was rained out Tuesday, Wednesday night’s home game with Appalachian State was also washed out.

The game was called at 6 p.m., just 30 minutes before the scheduled start, as Lee County went under a tornado watch.

Wednesday’s game against the Mountaineers will not be made up.

Fans holding tickets to Wednesday night’s game can exchange them for tickets to another midweek nonconference game or Sunday conference game. No refunds will be given.

The MAX Capital City Classic will be made up March 24.

The Tigers next hit the field Friday, when they begin a three-game series at No. 2 Arizona State at 7:30 p.m.

No make-up game will be played against South Alabama due to schedule conflicts. The Tigers were set to travel to Mobile for the 6 p.m. game, but instead will begin preparations for their Southeastern Conference opener against Kentucky this weekend at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Tigers and Wildcats play a double-header Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday’s single-game series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

Auburn (13-6) has had three consecutive midweek games canceled, two due to weather (Michigan and South Alabama) and one due to travel complications (Jacksonville State).

But the Jacksonville State game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 27.

The Tigers are coming off a four-game sweep in the War Eagle Classic last weekend at Jane B. Moore Field.

Soccer exhibition postponed to tonight
Wednesday night’s exhibition soccer match between Auburn and the Atlanta Beat of the WPS has been moved to tonight at 7 p.m. due to rain in the Auburn area. Admission to the match is free.

Auburn has also added a 7 p.m. exhibition match on Friday, March 26, against UAB at the Auburn Soccer Complex.

Coleman, a man without a set position, had a rough showing at the National Combine in late February because of a “busted-up” quadriceps muscle and was hoping for a much more favorable second impression.

McFadden, despite some NFL family connections and a big-name agent, didn’t even get an invitation to the combine, so Tuesday was his first-and-only time to showcase his abilities in front of 38 professional scouts at the Auburn Athletic Complex.

Both got exactly what they wanted.

“Some things just happen for a reason,” McFadden said. “I believe this day just happened for me just to come out and show my skills.”

McFadden and Coleman were two of 13 former Auburn players who participated at the annual Auburn Pro Day. Though the majority will likely go undrafted, McFadden and Coleman are both projected to go in the later rounds, where the difference between fourth- and seventh-round selection can be as big as a guaranteed paycheck versus a make-or-break summer tryout.

“I’m just looking for an opportunity,” Coleman said. “Whatever opportunity presents itself — first, fourth, seventh. All I need is an opportunity. I know I’m a hard worker and I know I’ll make the team.”

Coleman, who is projected anywhere from a third- to fifth-round selection, played through injuries throughout his time at Auburn and his post-Auburn career has been no different. The sore quadriceps muscle that basically ruined his combine was still prevalent during Tuesday’s drills, where he ran a 4.72-second, 40-yard dash, jumped 33.5 inches high and leaped 9 feet, 8 inches.

Those marks were all well below the top national numbers at both linebacker and defensive end, just like his 18 bench press repetitions at the combine, but Coleman said he was pleased with the effort.

“I just came out here and tried to come and give the coaches what they want,” Coleman said. “Show them that I can play D-end and outside linebacker.”

Coleman said he wanted to show the scouts that he is “one of the best D-ends out there,” but he’s still open to playing outside linebacker for 3-4 defense-based teams, which are on the rise.

“Whatever the case may be,” he said, “I just want to play football.”

The only number that concerned McFadden on Tuesday was revealed before he even broke a sweat.

McFadden, listed at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds throughout his Auburn career, weighed in at 181 pounds and grew an inch, up to 5-foot-11.

“As long as I weighed over 180 pounds and showed I have a little strength to myself, I’m going to be OK,” he said.

McFadden, who finished his Auburn career on a strong note with two interceptions and a touchdown in the Tigers’ Outback Bowl victory over Northwestern, certainly didn’t disappoint in arguably the most important drill for cornerbacks, the 40-yard dash.

McFadden beat out former Tigers Montez Billings and Brad Lester, coming in first among the 13 participants with times of 4.39 and 4.40 seconds, both of which would have been the best among corners at the National Combine.

“You can go to the combine and still not get drafted, so that was just a big thing for me,” McFadden said. “I feel like I was just an underdog and, hey, it’s just a matter of time for me to overcome it.”

Most scouting Web sites project McFadden to be either a seventh-round selection, or go entirely undrafted. McFadden, though, said he had heard he can go anywhere from the third to fifth rounds, and should have a better idea when he works out with the Chicago Bears next month.

His agent, the notorious Drew Rosenhaus, who infamously represented Terrell Owens during his time with the Dallas Cowboys, and the fact that his brother, Bryant, has had a stellar NFL career shouldn’t hurt his stock on draft day, either.

“Just having a chance to play in the NFL, that’s a dream come true for me,” McFadden said. “Whatever team says they like Walter McFadden, and Walter McFadden is going to be able to try to help them get some wins.”

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