Chance Westry watched from the bench last week as Auburn opened SEC play with a hard-fought win against Florida in Neville Arena.

For the first time since his return from offseason knee surgery, the highly touted freshman did not see the floor for the Tigers, logging a DNP—coach’s decision during their 61-58 victory against the Gators. It was the latest development in Westry’s role, which has diminished over the last five games as No. 22 Auburn (11-2, 1-0 SEC) prepares for its first conference road game Wednesday at Georgia (10-3, 0-0).

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The former four-star prospect went from averaging more than 14 minutes per game in his first six games post-surgery to playing eight minutes against both Memphis and Georgia State, a combined two minutes during Auburn’s two-game West Coast swing, to falling out of the rotation entirely in the team’s SEC opener last week. During the four games prior to last Wednesday’s Florida game, Westry shot a combined 1-of-9 from the field, 0-of-4 from 3-point range and had five turnovers against three assists.

Despite the freshman’s lessened role of late, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has maintained confidence in the long-term outlook for Westry, who was a top-40 player in the 2022 class.

“First of all, he’s handled it terrific; he has,” Pearl said Monday. “Chance Westry is going to be a great player in this program…. I have no doubts about his future in this program.”

For now, at least, the versatile 6-foot-6 guard is taking a backseat in the rotation as Auburn gives him more time to get right following his preseason knee procedure. Westry underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee on Oct. 6 — the same day Pearl had a similar procedure done on his knee — and missed most of the preseason after a promising summer of development, which included Auburn’s three-game tour in Israel.

Westry didn’t return to the court until Nov. 15 against Winthrop, missing the first two games of the season. He saw time at both guard spots and on the wing in his debut but then shifted focus to playing point guard behind Wendell Green Jr. Westry’s career hasn’t gotten off to the start many expected, however. In 10 games, he’s averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 assists, less than a rebound per game and has shot just 31.1 percent overall while going 0-of-14 from beyond the arc.

“He missed the entire fall,” Pearl said. “He had pretty good, major knee surgery. He came back and he wasn’t what he was before his injury and what he was this summer. At this point, then, you’ve got to look at the guys that are able to be out there and go, ‘OK, we’re going to go with them right now.’ Right now, he’s just working to get back to 100 percent.”

What that means for Auburn’s rotation as SEC play picks up is that Allen Flanigan and Chris Moore will continue to split time at the three, Zep Jasper and K.D. Johnson will work at the two, while freshman Tre Donaldson will serve as Green’s backup at the one. As Westry’s role has shrunk in recent weeks, Donaldson has seen his grow.

The 6-foot-2 freshman, like Westry, has seen his role fluctuate this season. He went from playing double-digit minutes off the bench in Auburn’s first four games, to single-digit spells against Bradley (6 minutes), Northwestern (3 minutes) and Colgate (3 minutes), to a pair of DNPs against Saint Louis and Memphis.

Over the last four games, though, Donaldson has been thrust back into the backcourt rotation, averaging more than 16 minutes per game during that stretch. He has made the most of the opportunity behind Green, too. Donaldson is averaging five points, 2.5 rebounds, three assists, two steals and just one turnover per game over the Tigers’ last four outings while shooting 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

“I just think that Tre’s done a good job, especially when he was out of the rotation and then got the opportunity to get back into the rotation and took advantage of the opportunity,” Peal said. “Stayed right and stayed ready. Kept working. Understood the position that he was in but wasn’t happy about it and came back and has played better than what he did at any time since he’s been here. The speed and the physicality of the game compared to high school, it’s just night and day.

“When Tre plays with a motor, he’s really effective out there. And there’s a lot of responsibility on the point guard. He’s done a pretty good job. There aren’t many freshman point guards playing in college basketball right now.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.