It hasn’t taken long for blue-chip freshmen Tahaad Pettiford and Jahki Howard to catch the eye of head coach Bruce Pearl.

Both played more than 20 minutes in Auburn‘s 83-62 exhibition win over Furman last Sunday, and Pearl made sure their impact was known when previewing Auburn’s next exhibition against Florida Atlantic.

“Between 15 and 20% of the top-100 freshmen in the country at power-five schools average double-digit points and double-digit minutes. And they both did that in their first contest,” Pearl said on Thursday. “I think they both did well. I think both are going to be real contributors for us.”

Pettiford, the second-ranked point guard in the 2024 class, scored 13 points and was the only Auburn player to make multiple 3-pointers against Furman.

While Pearl initially planned to play Pettiford mainly at the two, he said that his quick development allowed him to create a role for himself both as a point guard and a shooting guard.

Howard will also play multiple positions, according to Pearl, but at the two and the three. His athleticism stands out most, already offering a glimpse during the Tipoff at Toomers dunk contest.

He scored 10 points against Furman on 4-for-9 shooting and added two steals.

Pearl said he normally doesn‘t like to have freshmen playing two positions, but said he’s doing so with Howard and Pettiford for “a number of reasons” and “partly because they’re real talented.”

While the two players may not be starters right away, they seem to have already carved out roles on a team where Pearl said 10 players will play double-digit minutes.

“They’re absolutely going to be crowd favorites because of their athleticism. They’re gonna do a lot of really good things,” Pearl said. “Now, they’re gonna make some mistakes, because they’re freshmen. But they’re good. They’re gonna be a big part of this team.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m