Bruce Pearl has filled the vacancy on his coaching staff — and his newest assistant is bringing some more SEC experience to Auburn.

The Tigers are finalizing a deal to hire Corey Williams as an assistant coach, a source confirmed to AL.com. Williams comes to Auburn after two seasons as an assistant at Texas Tech, where he also spent a stint as interim head coach during last month’s Big 12 Tournament, and prior to that was an assistant at Arkansas under Eric Musselman.

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Williams replaces Wes Flanigan as the third assistant on Auburn’s staff, joining Steven Pearl and Ira Bowman. Flanigan, who spent five seasons back at his alma mater, departed the program earlier this month to take a position on Chris Beard’s inaugural staff at Ole Miss, a source confirmed to AL.com on April 8.

Pearl worked quickly to fill that vacancy, ultimately landing on Williams to be part of what is shaping up to be a transformational offseason for Auburn. Along with the departure of Flanigan from the staff, the Tigers are restructuring their roster following this past season’s second-round NCAA Tournament exit. Five players thus far have exited the program since the season ended in Birmingham last month: starting two-guard Zep Jasper exhausted his eligibility, while starting point guard Wendell Green Jr. declared for this summer’s NBA Draft. Freshmen Yohan Traore and Chance Westry both entered the transfer portal, while reserve big man Stretch Akingbola also intends to transfer after earning his undergraduate degree this summer.

Both members of Auburn’s starting frontcourt, Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams, also declared for the draft but left open the possibility of returning for next season.

The Tigers are also bringing in, so far, two newcomers to the roster for next season in 2023 signee and McDonald’s All-America guard Aden Holloway and FIU transfer guard Denver Jones.

Now Williams is the latest offseason addition for Auburn, bringing with him 24 years of coaching experience. Prior to spending the last two seasons at Texas Tech, Williams was part of Musselman’s original staff at Arkansas, helping to quickly reestablish the Razorbacks program. Arkansas went 45-19 overall in the two seasons Williams was on staff, including an Elite 8 appearance during the 2020-21 season.

Williams was hired at Arkansas after spending six seasons as head coach at Stetson, where he went 58-133 overall from 2013-19. He also has stops as an assistant at Florida State (2007-13) under Leonard Hamilton and Oral Roberts (2000-07) after initially beginning his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater, Oklahoma State, in 1994.

A native of Macon, Georgia, Williams played point guard at Oklahoma State under Eddie Sutton and was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 1992 NBA draft. He was part of the Bulls’ championship team during the 1992-93 season, when they completed their first three-peat with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson.

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