It will be an Auburn Pro Day like no other.

Phillip Marshall, Senior Editor, AuburnUndercover.com

Every spring, graduating seniors at schools across the country run, jump, throw, catch, lift and do agility drills for pro scouts. At a normal Auburn Pro Day, a couple of dozen NFL coaches and scouts show up to watch.

Twenty-plus aspiring NFL players, mostly seniors from Auburn’s national championship team, will go through the paces, starting at 12:30 p.m. But there will be nothing normal about it.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton will be there. So will Lombardi Award-winning defensive tackle Nick Fairley. And that changes everything. Strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall, who runs the show on Pro Day, speculates more than 200 NFL personnel will be on hand. The NFL Network will be in town. So will ESPN.

There’ll be significant interest in Fairley. Ryan Pugh, Darvin Adams and others will have opportunities to be seen by far more NFL people than they normally would.

But, as it is wherever he goes these days, Newton will overshadow everybody and everything else.

From my less-than-expert eyes, Newton was the best player in the college football last season and is the best prospect in the NFL draft. I keep hearing that there are concerns about his leadership, work ethic and the like, which I find utterly confusing. I’ve never seen a stronger leader on a college football team. His Auburn teammates and coaches say his work ethic is beyond question.

Anyway, the word is that how Newton performs Tuesday could go a long way toward determining just how high in the first round Newton goes. It should be a very interesting day.

If you were planning on going to the stadium and checking it out, forget it. Unlike other Pro Days, when fans have been able to watch as long as they stayed outside the barrier surrounding the work area, Tuesday’s event will be closed to the public.

Moving on:

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an Auburn basketball team like this one. Records of 11-19 overall and 4-12 in the SEC don’t sound like much. Heck, they aren’t much. But this team, down the stretch of the season, has surely shown as much heart as any that ever played at Auburn.

Last Wednesday, the Tigers of first-year coach Tony Barbee rallied from a 20-point deficit – 16 at halftime – to beat Ole Miss. Earlier, they rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Mississippi State. Both of those were at home.

When LSU went up 40-25 well into the second half Saturday, my thought was that there was no way it could happen again. I was wrong.

Like flipping a switch, the Tigers went from helpless to dominant, from looking like a last-place team short on talent and hope to looking like a championship contender. They won going away.

The Tigers won’t likely win four straight games in the SEC Tournament next week at the Georgia Dome, but there’s not a team that they need fear. If they could play in the first half like they play in the second, who knows what could happen?

If Barbee can get future teams with more talent to play with the heart and passion of this team, very bright days are ahead for Auburn basketball. …

The NCAA has suddenly become very concerned about so-called “street agents” in college football. My question is this: Where has that concern been as those kinds of people have all but taken over college basketball recruiting? …

Oregon is going to have a hard time explaining why it paid Willie Lyles, who calls himself a trainer, $25,000 for recruiting services. Lyles was heavily involved with running back Lache Seastrunk, who went from Temple, Texas, to Oregon. The amount paid to Lyles was exorbitant, to say the least. …

Auburn’s baseball team had a big weekend. The Tigers swept the College of Charleston Classic. They beat the hosts, ranked No. 19, on Saturday afternoon. They look ahead to a big week. Memphis, a solid team in its own right, visits Plainsman Park on Tuesday and Wednesday. The biggest nonconference series of the season is set for the weekend when No. 7 Arizona State comes to town. …

Until next time …