AUBURN, Ala. -- Bruce Pearl understands if you arent sure what to expect from Auburns basketball team.Most of the roster is comprised of underclassmen and newcomers, including top recruit Mustapha Heron, redshirt freshman Danjel Purifoy and two graduate transfers.Pearl has gotten used to the mystery created by newness since taking over the Auburn program three years ago.For the third straight year, we have six or seven new guys on scholarship, so how could you possibly know as a person, as an observer, as somebody in the media or even me as a coach? he said. Part of the real challenge in building the program is just the fact that the roster has had to be reconstructed, and yet I wouldnt have done it any other way, because there really werent any other options.While it may be restructured and very new, weve got eight very, very solid freshmen and sophomores that are all good players. And so now the foundation is built and a good percentage of our team will return next year, and thats not something weve had yet.It still makes for an uncertain present even if the future seems bright. The Tigers are picked to finish 11th in the Southeastern Conference.Pearl has experienced the first two losing seasons of his 21-year head coaching career since taking over Auburns downtrodden program.The Tigers were 11-20 last season amid injury problems and the early departure of star Kareem Canty. Guard T.J. Dunans is back after averaging 11.6 points in 16 games before going down with a left knee injury.Freshman Bryce Brown also averaged double digits scoring while setting a freshman record with 78 3-pointers. While the talent infusion appears substantial, Auburn must replace starting interior players Tyler Harris and leading rebounder Cinmeon Bowers from a seemingly perpetually undersized team.Auburn also brought in graduate transfers Ronnie Johnson (Houston) and LaRon Smith, who was tied for third nationally in blocked shots last season at Bethune-Cookman. Horace Spencer returns after ranking third in the SEC in blocks as a freshman, giving Auburn a couple of shot swatters inside. The Tigers still dont have a scholarship player taller than 6-foot-8.Here are some things to watch in Auburns 2016-17 season:PURIFOYS PRESENCE: Last years top recruit sat out the season after he wasnt cleared academically by the NCAA. The 6-foot-7, 230-pounder will likely play out of position frequently at power forward but could fill some of the scoring void.Hes got a really complete offensive skill package, Pearl said. Hell be a very difficult matchup.WHOS THE POINT: Injuries and Cantys early departure left the Tigers playing power forward Bowers at point guard at times. Pearl has more options now for the position, including newcomers Johnson and freshman Jared Harper.I would say that were going to get really solid point guard play, the coach said. Ronnie and Jared, although ones a senior and ones a freshman, are both really fast and really quick offensively and defensively. We should be able to fly up and down the floor with the ball in their hands. Well be hard to press.Theyre both really good playmaking guards and they can both shoot it.TOUGH SCHEDULE: Auburn has a difficult nonconference schedule that includes games with Texas Tech, Oklahoma, UConn and UAB.BIG CROWDS? Pearls promotional efforts and recruiting have generated some excitement. Auburn has sold out season tickets in three straight years for the first time in school history, though part of that is because the Tigers play in the smaller Auburn Arena now. Before Pearls arrival, Auburn had only managed that in 1999-2000.
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Detroit Red Wings Shirts . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Here he is again, Marcus Sherels, beginning his seventh season in the NFL without assurance of a roster spot with the Minnesota Vikings.Sherels long ago proved his worth as a sure-handed, soft-spoken punt returner, whose self-made career has become one of the best stories in franchise history after starting out in 2010 as an undrafted local invited to rookie camp only on a tryout basis.The depth chart at cornerback is even more crowded now, though, and Sherels isnt in the top six there. Kickoff returner Cordarelle Patterson isnt a significant contributor as a wide receiver, either.So the Vikings could be challenged next week to either keep a pair of limited-role players and hinder their depth at another position, or let go of a valuable returner such as Sherels or Patterson.Not that Sherels would acknowledge any worry about this.Thats the coaches job, he said. We just try to come in and compete.As for the pride the 5-foot-10, 175-pound product of John Marshall High School in Rochester and the University of Minnesota surely takes in lasting this long in a league with an average career thats about half of his, Sherels keeps that quiet, too.Im just taking it year by year, he said.The smile widens, and the lilt in his voice accelerates when the subject of the four former Gophers currently in camp is broached.Wide receiver Troy Stoudermire was signed this summer after three years in the Canadian Football League, and hes getting a look as a punt and kickoff returner. Sherels, naturally, has taken to a mentoring role for a player he spent two seeasons with at Minnesota.ddddddddddddHes really talented, and hes been playing well. Im happy for him, and its fun watching him, Sherels said. I remember in college, he did everything.The smile comes freely for Sherels, too, when asked about his interception return for a touchdown last week at Seattle. This came during a trying month for him and his family, following a serious medical issue that popped up recently for his older brother, Mike Sherels, and required two surgeries.There couldnt be a better guy for that to happen to, said wide receiver Adam Thielen, another one of the seven Minnesota natives currently in camp. He works hard for it. He deserves it. Hes a heck of a football player. Obviously, good guys, good things happen to them.Game notes The Vikings will practice on Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium, their new $1.1 billion home set to debut on Sunday for the preseason game against San Diego. ... Coach Mike Zimmer said QB Taylor Heinicke, who wouldve been in line to challenge Shaun Hill for the primary backup role to Teddy Bridgewater, will probably be out another six to eight weeks. Heinicke, whos on the non-football injury list after an off-the-field accident before training camp, had surgery to repair a severed tendon in his left foot. The second-year player from Old Dominion had his walking boot removed this week.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL coverage on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '
