When Steven Pearl took over the reigns of the Auburn men's basketball program his father Bruce, he knew his fist priority needed to be taking care of the players on the roster and helping them navigate the change.

A week into the job, Pearl has been doing that to the best of his ability.

"Really trying to manage and get to our players and their parents, just make sure that they're all good," Pearl said when speaking to the media on Wednesday. "We talked about at the beginning of this process how we were going to do everything we could to make sure that they were in the best possible position for themselves and their families moving forward."

Pearl explained how understanding and opening the team has been to the changing of the guard.

He believes their willingness to understand why Bruce Pearl believed it was time to step down and adjust to the new era the program is heading into will make a difference this season.

"Having very positive, detailed conversations about what our vision is for those players and what out vision is for the future of Auburn basketball," Pearl said. "Incredibly grateful to all of them for being so understanding of not just BP (Bruce Pearl)'s situation, but the situation this staff's in right now. They've all been incredibly understanding and given us a lot of trust."

No one on Auburn's roster made the decision to transfer as a result of the change in head coaches, meaning the chemistry Pearl has already built with this set of players could help make the transition as smooth as possible.

The Tigers are also helped by retaining their coaching staff, something that can truly be a difference-maker.

Auburn opens the season at home against Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Nov. 3.