Auburn star point guard Tahaad Pettiford was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence (alcohol) early Saturday morning, an incident that elicited statements from head coach Bruce Pearl and Pettiford himself.

Pettiford posted a long statement to his Instagram story late Saturday night, apologizing for the arrest and taking ownership of the situation.

While speaking to reporters at an AMBUSH event in Atlanta on Monday, athletic director John Cohen praised Pettiford for his statement and said that he spoke with Pettiford early Monday morning.

“I had a great conversation with Tahaad at 6:45 a.m. this morning, and I think he’s a wonderful kid,” Cohen said. “Not going to pretend to be a lawyer, and I’m not going to pretend to know everything that happened, but I do know this: Tahaad Pettiford is a great young man who comes from a great family, and if indeed he made mistakes, I think everybody in this room at one point was 19 years old.

“I‘m not 100% sure what the mistakes he made or he didn’t make. We’re going to find more out, but I looked into his eyes and said, ‘You have a great future ahead of you, because you’re going to do the right things always from this point on and Auburn loves you, don’t forget that Auburn loves you.’”

Pettiford announced his return to Auburn in late May after initially declaring for the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility. Pearl didn’t specify if there’d be specific consequences for Pettiford, saying Auburn will “handle internally with Tahaad and his family.”

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