Auburn Grabs Pair of 2011 Commitments

Posted by CoHoops Paul Seaver

Auburn was considered a bubble team in early March and ended up as a No. 1 seed in the NIT. However, it was not enough to save the head coaching job for Jeff Lebo.

Lebo has found a new home as the head coach at Eastern Carolina, and now Tony Barbee has taken over. Barbee led UTEP to the NCAA Tournament this past season, bowing out to eventual national runner-up Butler in the first round.

On Thursday, Barbee got new additions to his program with the verbal commitments of two high schools teammates. Willy Kouassi and Bernard Morena will both attend Auburn.

Kouassi and Morena are both members of the class of 2011 and both hail from Central Park Christian School.

Morena, a 6-foot-8 small forward, is a three-star prospect, as rated by scout.com, while Kouassi, also a three-star prospect, is the big man inside at 6-foot-10.

The pair of commitments for Barbee is a great strating point in what will be the first full recruiting class at Auburn for the new head coach.

According to Evan Daniels of scout.com, 2010 Auburn commitments Luke Cothran and Shawn Kemp Jr. did not qualify and will not enroll at the university.

Tiger fans are happy with the signing of Tony Barbee. He was 82-52 in four seasons at UTEP, his first and only head coaching gig prior to his hiring at Auburn.


*Photo: Tony Barbee *Credit: auburn.scout.com

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