Chad Baker-Mazara, last of Auburn’s starting 5, enters portal

Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara, who started 34 games during the Tigers’ run to the Final Four, announced Thursday that he’s entering the transfer portal.

Baker-Mazara, who turned 25 in January, has one year of eligibility left due to the NCAA’s temporary waiver allowing student-athletes who previously competed at a non-NCAA school — junior college or NAIA, essentially — to play a fourth season at an NCAA school in 2025-26.

A 6-foot-7 wing, Baker-Mazara spent the last two seasons at Auburn after playing one season at Northwest Florida State. He previously played at San Diego State and Duquesne, with his freshman season for the Dukes not counting toward his eligibility due to the NCAA’s COVID waiver for 2020-21.

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A critical, albeit enigmatic, part of Auburn’s success over the past couple of seasons, Baker-Mazara averaged 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists this past season, shooting 38.1% from 3-point range. He showed the ability to get hot from the perimeter, scoring 18 points against Florida in the national semifinal and going for 22 points in back-to-back games against Ole Miss and Kentucky toward the end of the regular season.

Bruce Pearl has now lost his entire starting five from a team that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, with All-American Johni Broome and fellow starters Denver Jones, Dylan Cardwell and Miles Kelly using up their eligibility.

Pearl has made a couple of splashes in the transfer portal, adding Keyshawn Hall (UCF) and KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State).