They announced him last. After Auburn’s hype video played on the two videoboards perched high on both ends of Von Braun Arena. After the position, numbers, hometowns and names of Aden Holloway, Chris Moore, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome were all called.

Be it those in the Huntsville, Alabama, crowd who knew, or be it those who just heard a local suburb announced and cheered for one of their own, no Auburn player was introduced to a louder round of applause than guard Denver Jones.

Jones came to Auburn in April in part to be closer to home. His collegiate career has weaved him through community college in Kansas to FIU for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons and now into the SEC in his home state.

On Wednesday, he was all the way home. The New Market, Alabama, native stood up from the bench and entered the court through a line of his teammates to a bellowing crowd of Auburn fans near where he grew up.

Auburn went to Huntsville to give its fans in northern Alabama a rare opportunity to avoid a nearly four-hour drive to watch their favorite team play. For Jones, it was a trip that made him think back on his childhood.

“Man, I was starting reminiscing,” Jones said after Auburn’s eventual 87-62 win against UNC Asheville. “Made me feel like I was back in high school again getting called our for a starting five and having everybody roar for me. It felt really good being able to play in front of the home crowd tonight.”

In large part, the result of the game was a mere formality. This was a show for Auburn, now 7-2 this season, to cruise past an overmatched UNC Asheville. UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said despite playing more than 200 miles from Neville Arena, he knew this would be essentially playing a true road game.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said he plans to come back to Huntsville again after a night like this. More than 6,500 people showed up to the game. The Von Braun Center announced it as a sellout.

“It was what we expected, it really was,” Pearl said. “In the state of Alabama, there are certain places and certain pockets where there’s a lot of Auburn family. Obviously all around Auburn is pretty much Auburn family. You get outside of the state and outside of Auburn, there’s some competition from other schools. I don’t think there’s anybody in the state that has more support than Huntsville for Auburn. It’s great to be here, it’s a reward for our fanbase, and I appreciate the sponsors. It’s a great venue and great facility. We’ll definitely come back.”

Jones said he had his parents and many friends at the game. Some of them hadn’t seen him play in years — probably all the way back to high school he said. Jones began playing high school basketball at Buckhorn in New Market. But during his high school years, he moved across the border to two different prep schools in Tennessee.

It truly had been years since he’d played around Huntsville.

“It was just a real blessing to be able to go out there and perform in front of them,” Jones said.

And he gave a good display to those who know him well and those who know him as nothing more than a local product.

Jones scored nine points in part of what was an incredibly balanced Auburn effort to beat UNC Asheville. He made a 3-pointer before the game’s first media timeout and scored nine points total. He added five rebounds and an assist.

His 23 minutes on the hometown floor was more than any other Auburn player.

“It was great to get Denver Jones back,” Pearl said of Jones playing close to home. “Lot of pressure when you’re sort of coming home. I thought he got a great reception. He will always own Huntsville as his home. This is where his family lives, (where he) grew up. Just wonderful family in this community.”

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