On Monday, Auburn strengthened its frontcourt as Troy transfer Thomas Dowd announced his commitment to Steven Pearl’s Tigers.
The 6-foot-8 forward posted averages of 14.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists over 36.0 minutes per game last season with the Trojans. He played a key role in securing Troy’s second straight Sun Belt title, earning conference tournament MVP and First Team All-Sun Belt honors.
Dowd becomes the third transfer addition for Pearl, following Santa Clara’s Bukky Okoye and Creighton’s Owen Freeman. The 7-foot-1 Okoye and 6-foot-10 Freeman directly address the size disadvantage that plagued Auburn in many games last season. With the addition of French signee Narcisse Ngoy (6-foot-10), the Tigers have effectively resolved that issue this offseason.
Thomas Dowd brings scoring and rebounding ability to the Tigers
A Dothan, Alabama native, Dowd was unranked by 247Sports coming out of high school but quickly made an impact at Troy. He averaged 6.3 points as a freshman and improved to 9.5 points per game as a sophomore. During Troy’s Sun Belt tournament title run, he was instrumental, recording 23 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists in the championship win over Georgia Southern.
He was rated the No. 17 power forward in this year’s transfer portal.
Although Dowd struggled in Auburn’s NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Nebraska shooting 1-of-11 from the field for just four points he still grabbed nine rebounds against the Cornhuskers.
His addition became even more critical on Monday following news that Sebastian Williams-Adams, who had announced earlier this month he would return to Auburn for his sophomore season, instead decided to enter the transfer portal. Williams-Adams averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game for the Tigers this season.
