Walker Kessler knows he can’t hide it.

Yes, the five-star center comes from a Georgia family. After all, his father Chad spent four years playing basketball for the Bulldogs, averaging 12 points and six rebounds per game his senior season 32 years ago.

Kessler isn’t letting his Georgia roots dictate his future, though. When it comes to where Kessler, the No. 16 player in the 2020 class, will play his college ball, he’s keeping his options “completely open.” And yes, that includes one of the biggest rivals of his family’s team — Auburn.

“Auburn definitely has a shot more than any other school,” Kessler said. “They’re in my top-three, probably. It’s so close to home, and the appeal of Coach Pearl, who can get all his players to play for him and just have your back. That’s really appealing to be a player. That’s the main thing.”

Kessler was one of a handful of five-star prospects on the Plains during the weekend for what was certainly the biggest recruiting weekend of Bruce Pearl’s tenure. That kind of star power on campus used to be unfathomable, but as Pearl said last month, Auburn’s recent on-court success — going from SEC bottom-feeder to Final Four team during his time as coach — has opened a lot more doors for the Tigers when it comes to recruiting.

Like many, Kessler has taken notice of what Pearl has achieved on the Plains.

“Oh, they’re definitely on the up-rise, no doubt,” Kessler said. “Look at these two past seasons: two SEC back-to-back championships, a Final Four appearance — I mean, there’s no telling. Who knows, maybe the next two years they’ll win back-to-back national championships. The thing is, you look at the recruits that go into Auburn, they’re not like four- and five-star guys. Coach Pearl takes these talented players — I’m not dogging them at all — but he takes them and develops them and makes them play together. That’s how you win, when you get a team that all plays together.”

As a five-star prospect, seeing what Pearl has been able to do without some of the high-profile talents that some of the nation’s top programs — the same kind of blue bloods Auburn knocked off in the NCAA Tournament in March — is certainly appealing to Kessler. So too is Auburn’s playing style.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound Kessler likes the way Auburn stretches the floor, with just about every player on the court not only able to knock down shots from beyond the arc, but how Pearl gives his players the freedom to take those shots. Kessler averaged 21 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.4 blocks per game as a junior at Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., last season. He also connected on 33 percent of his 3-point attempts, making 30-of-91 attempts from deep.

“You look at all the bigs that shoot — Austin Wiley’s not really the big that shoots, but everybody else,” Kessler said of Auburn. “Just the versatility, how you can use the big on the perimeter, you can use him in the post, in the high post. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Especially for a player who described himself as “some tall, white, skinny guy who can kind of shoot a little bit.” Kessler said Pearl has compared him to the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma — a versatile 6-foot-9 stretch-four who shot 33.5 percent from 3-point range while averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game this season.

“Don’t get me wrong, (Kuzma)’s an unbelievable player and our bodies are not that similar, but (Pearl) said kind of that versatility,” Kessler said. “You see him in the post. You see him on the outside. It’s just very versatile.”

While Kessler didn’t give a definitive list of the other schools in his top-three with Auburn, the rising senior said he is also considering North Carolina, Gonzaga, Duke, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee. Michigan was in that group until head coach John Beilein left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers, but now Kessler said the Wolverines are not in consideration anymore.

He said he hopes to make his final decision in October, if not November, but added that circumstances can change his timetable for making a commitment. Although he may not take all his official visits, he expects to be back to Auburn again for unofficial visits given its proximity not only to his home in Fairburn, Ga., but his family’s lake house on Lake Martin.

“Obviously, Coach Pearl is a great coach, great program,” Kessler said. “You can really tell all his players play for him. It’s all together, camaraderie that’s not like at other schools. That’s why they went so far, because everyone is playing together. It’s obviously close to home, only about an hour away. Beautiful campus, beautiful facilities, in the SEC. It’s great.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.