The Auburn Tigers took a big hit, as soon to be junior Mustapha Heron has decided to take his name out of the 2018 NBA draft pool and transfer to another program. Many thought Heron would withdraw from the draft after not being invited to the NBA draft combine but expected him to come back to an Auburn team that showed major promise last season. Heron’s father Bryan cited that Mustapha wanted to be closer to his mother who is has had 30 doctors visits and five emergency room visits after suffering a concussion during the last year. The Heron family has planned on applying for a hardship waiver for immediate eligibility for Mustapha.
As reported by Zag’s Blog, Bryan Heron stated the following:
“What people don’t know is Mustapha’s mom has been sick for a year. Being home, he wants to get closer to his mom. He knew he had to go back to school. The last month he’s been here and he wants to be close to his mom, where she can see him play.”
As a sophomore, Heron averaged 16.4 points (leading scorer) and 5.3 rebounds last season. It’s been rumored that UCONN could be a logical landing spot for the Connecticut native and former 5-star recruit.
Fortunately, Auburn will be gaining the services of juniors Danjel Purifoy and big man Austin Wiley who were held out of competition last year due to the possible involvement in the college basketball FBI scandal that rocked the athletic world. Wiley and Purifoy both withdrew their names from the NBA draft and look to contribute for the defending SEC champs. Auburn also returns the services of senior Bryce Brown, who was the team’s second-leading scorer and a first-team All-SEC selection by the AP and second team selection by league’s coaches.
