Alabama’s Mr. Basketball and local star, Baker High School’s Labaron Philon, who had originally committed to play for Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers in February, announced today that he has re-opened his recruitment and decommitted from Auburn. This news comes shortly after Wes Flanigan, former assistant for Auburn and Philon’s main recruiter, announced he would be leaving The Plains to take a job on Chris Beard’s staff at Ole Miss.
NEWS: 2024 four-star point guard Labaron Philon has decommitted from Auburn.
Philon, one of the nation’s leading scorers this past HS season (34.7 PPG), is a top-40 recruit nationally and the No. 1 player in Alabama.
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— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 21, 2023
Could this mean that Ole Miss will be in play for Philon now? He initially committed to Auburn over Alabama, Arkansas, and LSU, so all three schools will certainly make another push for the guard now as well. Philon is not the only recruit Auburn has lost in the 2024 class either, with four-star center Peyton Marshall announcing his decommitment last week as well.
Both players were recruited by Flanigan. Bruce Pearl did make a hire today, as it appears former Texas Tech assistant and Oklahoma State star Corey Williams will take over Flanigan’s role on the staff. It remains to be seen whether either player could end up recommitting to play for Auburn, but regardless, it has been a tough week so far for Pearl and the program.