1980–81 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

1980–81 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
1980–81 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	9–16 (4–14 SEC)
Head coach	Sonny Smith (3rd season);
Assistant coaches	Herbert Greene; Mack McCarthy; Herman Williams;
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 LSU	17	–	1	.944	31	–	5	.861
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3	.833	22	–	6	.786
No. 15 Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
Alabama	10	–	8	.556	18	–	11	.621
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	19	–	12	.613
Ole Miss †	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Florida	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Auburn	4	–	14	.222	11	–	16	.407
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	8	–	19	.296

† 1981 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1980–81 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1980–81 college basketball season. The team was coached by Sonny Smith, who was in his third season.

Newcomers to the team this season included freshman signees Greg Turner, Mark Cahill, and Paul Daniels. The team lost captains Bubba Price and Rich Valavicius, who graduated.

The team played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 9–16, 4–14 in SEC play. They lost to Florida in the first round of the 1981 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.^[2]

Roster

1979–80 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	22	Eric Stringer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Oxford High School	Hobson City, AL
F	44	Earl Banks	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Holy Family High School	Birmingham, AL
C	45	Bobby Cattage	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Sr	J.O. Johnson High School	Huntsville, AL
C	32	Darrell Lockhart	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	So	Robert E. Lee High School	Thomaston, GA
C	33	Frank Poindexter	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	So
G	23	Alvin Mumphord	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So
G	3	Byron Henson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So
F	11	Greg Turner	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Tuskegee High School	Tuskegee, AL
F	21	Mark Cahill	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr	Stone Mountain High School	Stone Mountain, GA
G	00	Paul Daniels	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Warner Christian	Ormond Beach, FL

Head coach

Sonny Smith

Assistant coach(es)

Herbert Greene
Mack McCarthy
Herman Williams

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

References

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[2] "1980-81 Auburn Tigers Men 's Schedule and Results".

[1]

[2]

v t e Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Venues	The Gymnasium (1906–1916) Alumni Gymnasium (1916–1946) Auburn Sports Arena (1946–1969) Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum (1969–2010) Neville Arena (2010–present)
Rivalries	Alabama UAB
Culture & lore	Aubie The Jungle
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics