Credit: 247Sports

One of the top playmakers in the 2020 class is off the board after Sharife Cooper committed to play basketball for the Auburn Tigers.

Cooper announced his decision Friday:



Cooper is one of the nation's most highly regarded point guards and had offers from schools such as Kentucky and Florida. The Georgia native is a 5-star prospect, the No. 2 player at his position and the No. 18 overall recruit in the 2020 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Per the 247Sports scouting report:

"Limited height but tremendous quickness and body control. Strong with the basketball. Extremely ambidextrous and also an accurate one-hand passer with either hand. Scores from all three levels with a variety of shots. Tremendous distributor. Needs to tighten up his defense and also become a more physical defender."

One big feather in Cooper's cap came during July 2018 when he received the stamp of approval from NBA superstar Kevin Durant at the Nike Peach Jam event.

"He told me he really liked my game and that he felt like I had the whole package," Cooper told Jason Jordan of USA Today. "He told me to let him know if I needed any advice because he said he wanted to see me in the NBA."

Cooper fits the mold of other recent notable college point guards as someone capable of succeeding despite size. 247Sports lists him at 6'0" and 160 pounds. Trae Young was listed at 6'2" and 180 pounds at Oklahoma. Murray State's Ja Morant was listed at 6'3" and 175 pounds.

Based on Cooper's scouting report, he also shares similarities with those players on the court. Young and Morant made their names in college by being able to score from anywhere and finding ways to put their teammates in great positions to get easy baskets.

Head coach Bruce Pearl continues to knock it out of the park for the Tigers. He led the program to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019, a feat not accomplished at the school in nearly 20 years.

Auburn has had success despite not being a staple at the top of national recruiting rankings. Its 2018 freshman class didn't even rank among the top 13 in the SEC, per 247Sports, but the team won a school-record 30 games last season.

Now that high-level recruits have seen what Pearl is capable of doing at Auburn, they appear to be ready to offer their services to the program. Cooper will be the face of Tigers basketball for as long as he's there and will keep them in the running for SEC and national titles.