‘We’re getting a little better every year’: Auburn’s Johnnie Harris previews upcoming season

After making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, The Auburn women’s basketball team enters the 2024-2025 season with the goal of building on its success.

“Every year we’re getting a little bit better, we’re constantly improving,” head coach Johnnie Harris said Monday before the team’s first practice.

The team is losing last season’s leading scorer and team leader Honesty Scott-Grayson, but key contributors like Taylen Collins, Kaitlyn Duhon, Savannah Scott and others are returning.

Collins, Auburn’s leading scorer, is one of the names Harris points to as a team leader in his second season at Auburn and fifth season of college basketball.

“I would say Taylen has always been a leader. He’s the same type of leader that Honesty is,” Harris said. “He leads by example, and if he needs to speak up, he speaks up.”

Collins, Duhon and Scott are members of a returning roster that Harris hopes can continue to carry the program forward in his fourth season at Auburn.

While the returnees are important to the team’s foundation, One of the biggest news stories of the offseason was the addition of Taliah Scott, who transferred from Arkansas.

A standout freshman last season, Scott was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school and is averaging 22.3 points per game for Arkansas in the 2023-2024 season.

He averaged the most points per game in the Southeastern Conference last season, but he didn’t average enough points to be the SEC scorer.

Scott was Arkansas’ most-played player, averaging 36.4 minutes per game, but he only played in 20 games due to a back injury he suffered early in SEC play and a “serious family emergency” that forced him to miss the final five regular-season games and the SEC Tournament.

Scott isn’t the only big-hitting signing Auburn has made this offseason. The veteran forward DeYona Gaston transferred from Texas in the offseason and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2023.

That season, he averaged 12.1 points per game in 32 games and averaged 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game, earning him the 2024 Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year award.

With the combination of impactful transfers and a roster of returning players, Harris hopes for continued growth for the program this season.

NCAA Tournament berth and Surprise regular season win over LSU in 2024Progress is evident, and as the program continues to grow in popularity, the Tigers have a chance to take the next step in 2024-2025.

“We put out a good product and we have some really good young ladies who love Auburn and represent Auburn well, so I think that translates to the fans,” Harris said.

The Auburn women’s basketball team will play a friendly against LaGrange College on Oct. 31 and will begin the regular season at home against Southern Illinois on Nov. 4.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports AL.comYou can follow him at address X. @peter_rauterkus or email him [email protected]M