He’s not quite sure when — and he hopes it won’t be possible in the coming weeks as Auburn’s men’s basketball team hunts for an NCAA title — but eventually, Hugh Freeze wants to take Bruce Pearl golfing.

“I called Bruce yesterday and it was his birthday also,” Freeze said Tuesday during his press conference. “I said, ‘Man, when we get time, me and you are going on a two-night golf trip.’”

Sure, Freeze wants to enjoy a little time away with Pearl, who he calls a “dear friend.”

But there’s also another reason for the proposed getaway as Freeze feels there’s a thing or two he could learn from Pearl.

“The appearance is that they really enjoyed playing together, accepting their role, whatever it was,” Freeze said of Auburn’s NCAA Tournament-bound men’s basketball team. “This day and time, you don’t see that all the time. He’s done something very right along with, I’m sure the leadership of the team, to get them to that point.”

As Freeze continued, he singled out Auburn senior center Dylan Cardwell.

“The guy just enjoys every minute he has on the court. I’m sure he would want more, but every minute he got you could just see his enjoyment of that,” Freeze said of Cardwell. “Bruce has done something right.”

Throughout last season, Freeze made mentions of wanting to see a greater sense of togetherness inside Auburn football’s locker room.

“Man, this new world of we talk to each other through text and we date through Snapchat and all of that world, I think you miss that element of true community,” Freeze said back on Nov. 27. “The culture has gotten better. The standard has gotten better. The accountability has gotten better. I’m hopeful I can continue to build the community aspect of what a team really is.”

As of this spring, Freeze has employed the help of a “culture council,” which is made up of 12 players.

Shortly after his press conference Tuesday, Freeze had a meeting planned with the council to get an update on how things were going on that front.

“They’ll give me the most recent update of how that’s going. They have a better pulse on all of those little things probably than I,” Freeze said. “So I’m anxious to see how that’s going from our enrichment team. It’s been good thus far.”

Fortunately for Freeze, should he need need some additional help in fostering that sense of community inside his locker room, he’s got a fellow Auburn head coach he can lean on just across the street in Neville Arena.

“We’re going to take a trip to play golf somewhere together and at night he’s going to share with me his insight into it.”