1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Red Lobster Classic champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	22–11 (13–5 SEC)
Head coach	Sonny Smith (8th season);
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Kentucky †	17	–	1	.944	32	–	4	.889
Alabama	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
Auburn	13	–	5	.722	22	–	11	.667
Florida	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
LSU	9	–	9	.500	26	–	12	.684
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	17	–	13	.567
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
Tennessee	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Ole Miss	4	–	14	.222	12	–	17	.414
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	6	–	22	.214

† 1986 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1985–86 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Sonny Smith, who was in his eighth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 22–11, 13–5 in SEC play. They lost to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Arizona, St. John's, and UNLV to advance to the Elite Eight where they lost to Louisville.^[1]

The only real loss of note from the prior season for Auburn was starting center Carey Holland. Also, center Darren Guest would be found academically ineligible and eventually transfer. Key additions were freshman forward Mike Jones and guard Aundrae Davis, a sophomore transfer from West Virginia University who would not be eligible until the next season. Senior Chuck Person would have a stellar season and make several All-America teams.

Roster

1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	45	Chuck Person	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Sr	Brantley High School	Brantley, AL
G	15	Frank Ford	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Osceola High School	Kissimmee, Florida
F	34	Chris Morris	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Fredrick Douglass High School	Atlanta, Georgia
F	13	Mike Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Columbus, Georgia
C	40	Jeff Moore	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Midfield High School	Midfield, Alabama
G	12	Gerald White	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr	Richmond Academy	Augusta, Georgia
G	10	Terrence Howard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	So	Southwest High School	Southwest, AL
G	14	Johnny Lynn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Beech High School	Hendersonville, Tennessee
F	31	Vern Strickland	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr	Emma Sansom High School	Gadsden, Alabama
G	11	Melvin Haralson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Fr	Jackson, Mississippi
F	25	Gary Godfrey	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	North Shore High School	North Palm Beach, Florida

Head coach

Sonny Smith (Milligan)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
SEC Tournament
NCAA Tournament
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Sources [1]

Team players in the NBA Draft

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1986	1	4	Chuck Person	Indiana Pacers

References

^ "1985-86 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved 9 December 2016.

[1] "1985-86 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved 9 December 2016.

[1]

v t e Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Venues	The Gymnasium (1906–1916) Alumni Gymnasium (1916–1946) Auburn Sports Arena (1946–1969) Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum (1969–2010) Neville Arena (2010–present)
Rivalries	Alabama UAB
Culture & lore	Aubie The Jungle
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics