AU HOOPS: Youngsters get first shot tonight in exhibition

Jeff Lebo called his 2009 group of signees one of his best since arriving at Auburn and, after a few practices, expressed some pleasant surprise about their physical style of play.

Those five players will get their first exposure tonight at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum against Miles College in an exhibition game that promises to provide big minutes for them.

“We have a lot of new faces of guys who haven’t played when they turn on the lights,” Lebo said. “It is always interesting to see every year how those kids are going to respond.”

The Tigers have four freshmen, three of them coming from Lebo’s 2009 signing class. The expectations are a bit higher for junior-college transfer Kenny Gabriel and Oklahoma transfer Tony Neysmith because of their size and experience.

Gabriel, a lanky swingman, averaged 13.2 points and seven rebounds per game at Paris (Tex.) Junior College. He’s impressed senior Lucas Hargrove enough to feel comfortable comparing him to himself.

“I’m a little bit smarter than him with a couple of things because he’s young,” Hargrove said. “I feel like if Kenny keeps his head on straight — which he will because he’s a good kid — we’re going to see some big things out of Kenny.”

Neysmith has been with the Tigers for more than a year, as he sat out the 2008-09 season because of NCAA transfer rules. Players talked constantly last season about the impact Neysmith would have once he was able to play.

Neysmith, who has been battling an ankle injury and just returned to practice Tuesday, will be counted on for his defense, similar to a role graduated Quantez Robertson held throughout his four-year career at Auburn.

“He has better on-the-ball foot speed, so he can do that and be tough off the ball,” Lebo said. “Defensively, he can play a lot of different positions for us. He can play a two, three or point guard.”

Miles College, a Division II school, lost its first exhibition game Tuesday at UAB, 97-49. The Golden Bears start two guards that stand 5-foot-9, including Rahim Barnes, who had 13 points and hit three 3-pointers against the Blazers.

“Some of our big guys have a hard time defending on the perimeter in these games,” Lebo said. “They can kind of expose your bigs out there at times, which is something that we typically don’t see a lot when we get into playing regular-season games.”

Auburn opens the season next Friday when it hosts Niagara.

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