The Auburn Tigers are heading into a new era under the leadership of Steven Pearl, but the team is not letting it affect its mindset heading into the season.

“We responded maturely," said forward KeShawn Murphy, who transferred from Mississippi State to Auburn during the offseason. "We understood that if we were going to get things done, then we were  going to have to be together. We didn’t change much. It was more of us building on what was going  on throughout the summer." 

While Murphy is confident in Pearl's ability to lead the program, Pearl is equally confident in Murphy's ability to make a difference for the Tigers on the floor this season.

"I don't know if you saw him in high school, but he was a shooter in high school," Pearl said. "He was a guard. He had guard skill sets. You've been to some practices, seen some of the things he's been able to do when he puts the ball on the floor."

Pearl highlighted Murphy's ability to be effective from beyond the arc, and described how he plans to continue letting players operate freely and allowing them to shoot, even big men.

"He showed in scrimmage Saturday, made three 3s in our scrimmage," Pearl said. "He's shown the ability to stretch the floor and make the defense respect him out there. I'm really excited for him because while he was really effective at Mississippi State, considering what our fives do in our system -- we allowed Walker Kessler to shoot threes. He shot 20%. Big reason for that is he was the National Defensive Player of the Year."

Pearl believes his willingness to allow free and open play makes Auburn a desirable destination in the transfer portal.

"If they give the effort and energy on the defensive end, we'll allow those guys to have a lot more freedom on the offensive end," Pearl said. "When he got into the portal, he decided to come to Auburn because of what we let our fours and fives do from an offensive standpoint."