By the time May rolled around, Auburn men’s basketball had already put together the majority of its roster, but was missing the final piece.

After losing players like Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson and Ja’Heim Hudson in the frontcourt, Auburn needed to add talent and depth. The Tigers already signed KeShawn Murphy out of the transfer portal, Emeka Opurum from the JUCO ranks and Sebastian Williams-Adams out of high school, but they needed one more.

To fill that final hole, Auburn looked internationally, and settled on Filip Jovic, a 20-year-old professional player in Serbia who the staff believes can contribute right away.

But how does a college program like Auburn even come into contact with an international prospect like Jovic? Associate head coach Steven Pearl explained.

“I wouldn’t say it fell into my lap, but I’m pretty close with Filip’s agent. He played at Georgia when I was playing at Tennessee. We’ve known each other for a really long time,” Pearl said. “He reached out to me, actually, and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a couple of guys that I want to take a look at.’ And I saw Filip, and I was like, ‘Holy…’ He’s got a chance to be really good.”

Pearl compared Jovic to former North Carolina star forward Tyler Hansbrough, a player with a similar build to Jovic who dominated college basketball in Chapel Hill. At 6-foot-8, Jovic doesn’t have crazy size, but his athleticism and explosiveness makes him a tough matchup.

According to Pearl, the development of former Auburn big men such as Broome, Cardwell and Walker Kessler also made an impression on Jovic, giving Auburn an even better chance at signing him.

“He looked at all those guys and said, ‘I could do that,’” Pearl said. ‘It left an impression on him, and ultimately we were able to get him signed. We’re excited to get him on campus.”

Jovic will join a roster that only returns one player from last year’s Final Four run, but will face another gauntlet in the 2025-2026 season. While Jovic lacks any college basketball experience, Pearl is confident that his professional experience in Europe will translate just fine.

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