Auburn basketball fans almost got to witness top 3 picks in consecutive NBA drafts, but Scoot Henderson never followed Jabari Smith’s path to the Plains, instead opting to sign in the G-League for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons after leaving high school following his junior season at Kell in Marietta, Georgia. As 247Sports’ Travis Branham reported, it was so close to happening that there was a deal signed “behind the scenes.”
“Had Henderson played college basketball, he was a lock to suit up for Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers,” Branham prefaced before saying, “In fact, Henderson had actually silently committed to Auburn behind the scenes in the spring of 2021 before the talks of reclassifying and going pro had really surfaced.