NASHVILLE — Moments after his sixth season as Auburn’s basketball coach ended with a 78-69 loss to Florida in the opening round of the SEC tournament, Jeff Lebo was ready for the question.
Asked if he would be around for a seventh campaign after finishing 15-17 this time around, Lebo said he and athletic director Jay Jacobs will meet “like we always do. That will happen sometime soon, I’m sure.”
What will transpire at that meeting is less certain. The former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach now stands 96-93 at Auburn, having never led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament. Moreover, three of his top four scorers are seniors.
Then there is the matter of a new $92 million arena, set to open next season. Would a new coach help fill the 9,600-seat structure? Or does Lebo deserve to open it, in part because, in the words of senior forward Lucas Hargrove, “He put in a lot of work getting it built.”
He put in a lot of work attempting to build a program that may be the toughest to turn around in the SEC when playing by the rules. And there have been singular moments of success. He went 24-12 a year ago, a record that most years would have earned him an NCAA tourney invitation.