What works in college basketball isn’t necessarily going to work in the NBA. The game has changed, and Bruce Pearl knows that. It bothers him to see All-American centers like Oscar Tshiebwe from Kentucky or Drew Timme from Gonzaga not drafted highly into the NBA. For all the dominant scoring, rebounding and blocking numbers those big men produced, they were not threats to shoot 3s.

“The NBA has flat-out almost given up on basketball players who can’t shoot the 3-ball,” Pearl said.

That’s basketball in the modern age. It’s won with shooting these days, and Pearl knows that. Yet since the Final Four run in 2019, shooting has been Auburn’s glaring weakness.

So Pearl went to the transfer portal to fix that. Then came Tuesday. At last, it was Auburn’s first day of practice — the first day to start putting the new offense together.

“It just sort of tells you how, what a premium the perimeter shooting is,” Pearl said. “I’ve thought, so far this fall, we’ve shot it better. I don’t know if it’s because we’re not defending it as well. But it’s something that we definitely need to improve on. And I do think we have the personnel to do it.”

Insert Denver Jones, a transfer from FIU.

Last year, Jones scored just over 20 points per game and shot 37% on 3-pointers. He made 59 threes last season. From the field, Jones shot 48% — among the top 150 players in Division I. According to his Auburn roster page, Jones had the nation’s fifth-best mid-range shooting percentage

One of the elite three-point shooters in the nation? No. A significant upgrade to what Auburn already had? Quite likely.

Last year Auburn was 309th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage. It was also 218th in 3-pointers attempted per game. Auburn averaged making just over three 3-pointers per game last season and Jones averaged a little over two per game by himself.

Auburn hasn’t had a team shooting percentage from beyond the arc better than 226th in the country since it went to the Final Four.

Pearl brought Jones in to take the place of guard Zep Jasper, who graduated last year. But they are very different players. Jasper was one of Auburn’s better defenders, but he was just a 28% 3-point shooter.

“Denver Jones is a much better offensive player than Zep,” Pearl said. “He’s bigger, he’s stronger. And he works really hard defensively. That could be an upgrade at the position. Really, really excited about Denver. You’re going to see him do some things he didn’t do.”

What’s new is coaching Jones to be more than a shooter, Pearl said. Part of that comes from seeing him bulk up by about 15 pounds compared to the spring.

There’s the addition, too, of five-star freshman Aden Holloway, who was regarded as a good shooter in his high school scouting report. Pearl said not only is Holloway a good shooter, but he has good range, too.

He and returning guard Tre Donaldson are in a battle for the starting point guard spot. Coming off the bench all season, Donaldson shot 40% from beyond the arc.

“When we pick teams, it doesn’t matter who you get” junior forward Johni Broome said. “Tre and Aden, they go back and forth each day. They both push each other each day. So I feel like that won’t be an issue. We’ll be strong. Most teams have got one, but we’ve got two.”

Holloway would appear the favorite for the job on paper, but no matter who is handling the ball — and both will — it will be a position marked by inexperience.

Pearl is also banking on improvement from his returners.

“I feel like we’re going to shoot pretty well,” graduate forward Jaylin Williams — who shot 35% on threes last season — said. “Typically early in the season, some people might struggle, might be a little surprised, so it won’t be surprising if someone’s struggling. I mean, in my past, I’ve struggled to finish 35 (percent) or higher, so hopefully, everybody shoots well. I believe everybody’s going to shooting pretty well.”

Pearl’s quest to find more perimeter shooting even goes so far as asking for range from his best returning player, a big man, in Broome.

After making only three 3-pointers in his first 25 games with Auburn, he had six in the final eight games. He had 31 attempts from deep over the 33 total games, but 15 of them came in that final eight-game stretch.

“I work out on the perimeter each and every day,” Broome said of his shooting. “We’ve got a couple of offenses where I’m on the perimeter as well. I think Coach trusts me, my teammates trust me, my coaches trust me to take those shots. It’ll definitely be better this year.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]