Auburn basketball players share love for home game tradition ahead of Florida matchup
The Jungle is ready for some college basketball on Saturday with Florida coming to town. Several Auburn players expressed appreciation for the student fanbase’s enthusiasm, camping out days ahead to be at the front of the line to get student tickets.
Dylan Cardwell couldn’t hide his love for AU’s love of his Tigers.
“I’m a big fan of it; I love that Auburn basketball has gotten to this point. But let’s shower, brush some teeth, and go on canvas or something,” Cardwell said, per AL.com. “We’re obviously skipping class; we’re obviously skipping school. So, I think there needs to be a virtual queuing or something.
“It’s a cool experience and I love it; I’m a huge fan of it. But I’m not a fan of it four days in advance. Let’s shorten, let’s have a two-day or a one-day thing, not all week long.
“I want to say you can kind of feel that, especially the further out they camp. This year the schedule is so jam-packed that we face a good team every game. For us, it’s nothing new internally or in the locker room.”
Miles Kelly didn’t understate what the Jungle brings to the team within the Neville Arena’s walls.
“I just think 99% of that is The Jungle. It’s like having a sixth defender out there,” Kelly said. “One of my best friends, Jalon Moore — he plays for Oklahoma — I talked to him after the game, and he was just like, ‘Man, the atmosphere is crazy.’ He could barely hear the play calls.”
UF is an Iowa State-level challenge for Auburn. It’s an expected win, per the betting odds, but it’d be a massive resume-building win nonetheless.
If the Tigers are to finish the job and bring the SEC regular season crown home, these types of games are musts.
