The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the parents, fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from Atlanta by chatting with Auburn basketball father Will Trapp about his son Reed winning a high school state title and his predictions for this weekend.
You are a Senior VP at Morgan Stanley and founded indie record label Single Lock Records with 4-time Grammy winner John Paul White/4-time Grammy-winning Alabama Shakes keyboardist Ben Tanner: how do you balance your 2 gigs, and what is like working with such talented people? They are great! It looks a lot cooler than it is. John Paul/Ben produce records for a lot of people and write songs and go touring, so I would not put myself in their category: I am just a business partner who helped them start Single Lock. My day job is investment management, which takes up plenty of time. We started Single Lock 10 years ago so in the early days I was a little more involved.
Your son Reed led Covenant Christian School to the 2022 AHSAA Class 1A boys’ basketball state title: what did it mean to him/you to win a title? It was the coolest thing that ever happened. It is a tiny Christian school in Muscle Shoals that had never won anything like that. I was the team waterboy and it is 1000 times more rewarding than doing it yourself.
Your family is from Muscle Shoals, AL, and he began his college career at Birmingham-Southern: why did he decide to transfer, and what made him choose Auburn? After his 1st season Birmingham-Southern announced that it was closing after being founded in the mid-1800s, and his coach said he should feel free to explore other opportunities. Reed had a friend at Auburn, so he went there for a tryout, and Coach Pearl said he could use him on his scout team: it has been amazing!
Coach Bruce Pearl has made 13 NCAA tourneys and made the Final 4 in 2019: what makes him such a great coach? He absolutely loves his kids and holds them to a high standard. He loves Auburn and the platform of basketball: he is such a genuine person all the time. When Reed became part of the program his life became meaningfully better. The whole Pearl family is at the heart of Auburn basketball, which is why you see a lot of kids stay there, whether you are a walk-on or an All-American.
Last year your son was member of the scout team but in January he got to play in a game against Mississippi State: how big a deal was it for him to go from walk-on to playing for 1 of the best teams in the nation? It was unbelievable! I asked him if he could enjoy it: he said it felt like an out-of-body experience for a moment, but it a huge thrill after they do all the practicing/lifting during the season. They keep the 1s/2s healthy, which is meaningful for the entire team.
Earlier this month his teammate Johni Broome was named POY by The Sporting News: where does Johni rank among the greatest college players that you have ever seen? He is definitely up there. Dylan Cardwell recently became Auburn’s all-time winningest player, but Johni is so skilled and plays it in such a unique/complete way. He is a great passer, is strong, and is definitely 1 of the best. I grew up in the 1990s and have seen a lot of great players.
He is a junior: does he have a post-graduation plan yet? Not yet: it is enough for him just to keep up with his schoolwork and do whatever the coaches ask him to do. He joked that his entire resume will be that he made good grades and kept the coaches happy…but that is important.
The SEC set a record this month with 14 NCAA tourney bids: do you think that it is the best conference in the history of the sport? I do. I watched the Big East in 2011 when they received 11 bids, and I would put the SEC up against them. It was a different era but the SEC is a testament to the fact that a lot of student-athletes want to be there.
The Tigers had a pair of double-digit wins in Lexington last weekend over Alabama State/Creighton: did you get to see the team in person at Rupp Arena, and how did they look? We were there shaking our shakers! The last time I was in Rupp Arena is when they held the SEC tourney there when it used to rotate cities. Alabama State is 1 of the best teams in the state and I saw Creighton beat UConn twice this year. Many of their losses this year were to SEC schools (Texas A&M/Alabama) and they were a hard #9 seed.
Any predictions for this weekend in Atlanta, and what would it mean if you end up facing fellow SEC team Mississippi on Sunday for a spot in the Final 4? It would be amazing! All that anyone is thinking about is Michigan and the parents are trying to support them at every step. That message is ingrained into the team culture: 1 game at a time, 1 day at a time.
