1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1978–79 college basketball season.

1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Big Sun Tournament champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	13–16 (5–13 SEC)
Head coach	Sonny Smith (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Herbert Greene Mack McCarthy Herman Williams
Captains	Bubba Price (1st year) Rich Valavicius (1st year)
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum

1978–79 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 7 LSU	14	–	4		.778			23	–	6		.793
Tennessee †	12	–	6		.667			21	–	12		.636
Vanderbilt	11	–	7		.611			18	–	9		.667
Alabama	11	–	7		.611			22	–	11		.667
Mississippi State	11	–	7		.611			19	–	9		.679
Kentucky	10	–	8		.556			19	–	12		.613
Georgia	7	–	11		.389			14	–	14		.500
Ole Miss	6	–	12		.333			11	–	16		.407
Auburn	5	–	13		.278			13	–	16		.448
Florida	3	–	15		.167			8	–	19		.296
† 1979 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Auburn began the year with newly-hired Paul Lambert as head coach, but Lambert died in a hotel fire in Columbus, Georgia on June 6, 1978 before ever coaching a game. Sonny Smith from East Tennessee State was hired as coach.

The team played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 13–16, 5–13 in SEC play. They defeated Vanderbilt and Georgia to advance to the semifinals of the SEC tournament where they lost to Tennessee.

Roster

1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 3 Taylor Hart 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Eufaula High School Eufaula, AL G 4 Lewis Card 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Auburn High School Auburn, AL G 11 Mark Barnhizer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Lapel High School Lapel, IN F 14 Roy McGrew 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Fairfield High School Fairfield, AL G 21 Bubba Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Carver High School Birmingham, AL G 22 Eric Stringer 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Oxford High School Hobson City, AL G 25 Kirk Powers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Sr Auburn High School Auburn, AL F 41 Benny Anthony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Bainbridge High School Bainbridge, GA F 42 Rich Valavicius 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Hammond High School Hammond, IN F 44 Earl Banks 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Holy Family High School Birmingham, AL C 45 Bobby Cattage 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So J.O. Johnson High School Huntsville, AL C 54 Jeff Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Lake Weir High School Weirsville, AL	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