Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford the ‘total package’ even as a freshman

SAN ANTONIO — When asked what it was like coaching against Auburn freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford in high school, Roselle Catholic (N.J.) head coach Todd Decker offers a quick heaping of praise: “His heart, quickness, and ability to shoot the ball — he’s the total package.”

When asked if there was a game he saw all of those attributes on display, Decker — his mood changing — goes briefly silent.

“I’d rather talk about anything else in my life,” said Decker, his voice on the phone growing softer. “Then what happened in that game.”

In “that game,” Pettiford had the ball with his Hudson Catholic team down three in overtime, just moments after he had tied the game at the end of regulation with a contested 3-pointer.

“We tried to deny the ball at the end of the first overtime but he gets it, takes three dribbles and banks a shot well beyond the NBA 3-point line,” said Decker, whose team eventually lost in double overtime.

“I still regret not fouling him. Probably one of the dumbest decisions I’ve ever made.”

The play of Pettiford in the NCAA tournament this past month has shown that maybe Decker shouldn’t be that hard on himself. Pettiford is averaging 17.3 points in his four NCAA tournament games — tying Johni Broome, the Sporting News National Player of the Year, for the team scoring lead in the postseason — and brings a high level of confidence for a freshman who has made just one collegiate start.

“I’m ready for the moment,” Pettiford said after Auburn’s win over Michigan State in last weekend’s South Region final. “I want to win it all.”

While Pettiford was listed as a point guard at Hudson Catholic, where he finished his senior season ranked 35th in the ESPN 100, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl immediately envisioned him in a role other than a distributor.

“Tahaad is a scorer; he’s going to be one of the fastest, quickest, most explosive guards I’ve ever had,” Pearl told the Montgomery Advertiser last April. “I think I’m going to try to play him off the ball and let him do what he do.

“Get buckets.”

In his 2024 assessment of Pettiford, Pearl proved to be a prophet. As Auburn won the state of Michigan with its wins over Michigan and Michigan State last weekend, Pettiford’s ability to turn the corner and drive the lane was a play opponents have learned to fear.

“He can go both ways really well, especially with that right hand,” said Michigan State guard Jase Richardson, who had experience against Pettiford on the AAU circuit. “I feel like he’s really solid with his right hand, so he’s kind of ambidextrous in a way.”

In addition to his fearless ability to drive the lane, Pettiford has also demonstrated range from beyond the arc.

“Pettiford shoots it six feet behind the line with ease,” said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott before watching Pettiford score a game-high 23 points in Auburn’s second-round win. “So, it stretches the defense out a little further.”

Playing on an experienced Auburn team, Pettiford arrived this season as the team’s only McDonald’s All-American. What he didn’t bring was a me-first attitude or an inflated ego.

“He came in, but he came in wanting to learn, wanting to compete, and wanting to kind of join what we had built,” said Broome, the only Auburn player to ever win a National Player of the Year award. “It definitely makes him special. Every night he steps on the court, he’s trying to make an impact for us to win.”

And Pettiford makes that impact without making any noise, which one might expect from a high school All-American who clearly has the talent to be a starter.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a player that has been as good as Tahaad that never started and had the least amount of noise from either the player or his family,” said Pearl of Pettiford, who did make one start this season. “It’s just not been a factor. His dad loves him and coaches him hard, and he wanted him to play for somebody that he knew would coach him hard.”

Pettiford’s accomplishments have come as being an undersized combo guard. While Auburn lists him as 6-foot-1, Pettiford says he’s really under 6-0, but his size is not a hindrance.

“That’s the one thing his dad [Travis Pettiford, who played at Montclair State] did when he was growing up is he always played him up even though he was small,” Pearl said. “He’s been playing guys older than him his whole life. So, what’s the difference in the NCAA tournament?”

There is no difference, as Pettiford’s NCAA performance has been on par with any player in this year’s Final Four.

“He’s just a special player; not too many freshmen are built like him,” said Auburn guard Denver Jones. “Some people just got it. Tahaad’s got it.”

That “it” that Pettiford has left a lot of North Jersey victims in his wake.

“We as a staff were saying the other day that he was the one kid that kind of put fear into us,” said Kevin Diverio, the head coach at Don Bosco High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. “We knew he would be good on the collegiate level. We didn’t know he would be this good, this quick.”

For Nick Mariniello, the head coach at Hudson Catholic, the greatness was obvious from the time he saw Pettiford in the eighth grade. 

“He’s always been a freak athletically, always been a hard worker, and always a gym rat,” Mariniello said. “The lights are never, ever too bright for him. He’s just special.”

What Mariniello most appreciates about Pettiford is his loyalty, a trait that is fading in an era where the constant movement among players is also growing on the high school level.

“Often, guys that are that talented go to national scholastic programs that have the top players from all over the country,” Mariniello said. “In a day where loyalty is a one-way street, I never felt like I had to put a wall around him. Him staying at the same school for four years was very impressive.”

It’s clear that Pettiford is built different, and that the respect he has earned at Auburn and back in New Jersey is genuine. 

Even among the coaches he terrorized.

“I’m still haunted by what happened in that game,” Decker said of the Roselle Catholic/Hudson Catholic instant classic a year ago. “But I love it when a Jersey kid does great, we all get pumped up. He’s such a talented kid, and it’s nice to see him succeed on the biggest stage.”