Good morning. With Auburn men’s basketball season opener mere weeks away, it’s an ideal time to continue the Above the Rim series to meet some new faces.

Today, we learn more about Chad Baker-Mazara and his tenacity in pursuit of a basketball career at a high level. He could have gone to a small college and played, but CBM wanted more. His decision to attend Ohio’s SPIRE Academy and a very late growth spurt earned him a scholarship from Duquesne, and eventually to nabbing a highly coveted spot on the Tigers’ roster. More below!

What else are we mixing into today’s Brew?

🏈 This week’s Auburn-Made feature, NFL edition
🥎 Introducing Thalia Martin
🐅 And much, much more!

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Check out the WarEagle+ Preview Page to watch the first four episodes of The Flight—the new weekly all-access docuseries inside Auburn football!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 CBM Gets Welcomed to the Jungle. A native of the Dominican Republic, Auburn junior Chad Baker-Mazara thinks in Spanish, speaks excellent English, and is fluent in the universal language of basketball.

Baseball is the national pastime in the Dominican Republic, but Baker-Mazara knew early on that wasn’t the right fit for him.

“As a boy, the first thing you get as a gift is a bat and a ball,” said Baker-Mazara, whose cousin Nomar Mazara played MLB from 2016-22. “My family tried to make me play, but I didn’t enjoy it. It got really boring to me. We need somebody in the family in the NBA.”

After growing from 6-2 to 6-7, he played center on defense in high school but played point guard on offense.

“Very late bloomer,” he said of his decision to attend SPIRE Academy in northeast Ohio for a season instead of playing at a small college. “I thought I was better than that. I’m going to bet on myself, go back for another year, and see what I can get.”

The bet paid off with a scholarship from Duquesne, where Baker-Mazara played his freshman season before transferring to San Diego State, where he was the Sixth Man of the Year in the Mountain West Conference in 2021-22.

Last season at Northwest Florida State College, Baker-Mazara shot a dazzling 46.9 percent from 3-point range, making 67 of 143 attempts.

In three seasons of college basketball, CBM has connected on 114 of 259 3-point attempts, a 44-percent clip. Call him “Chad Baker, the 3-point maker.”

“I like that,” he said.

To achieve that lofty percentage, Baker-Mazara seeks uncontested shots and ones from his preferred locations.

“I try to take efficient 3s,” he said. “The more efficient shots you take, the more you’re going to score. There are a couple spots where I’m more comfortable where I try to get myself wide open so I can get shots there and make it over and over again.”

It’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive north to Auburn from Niceville, Florida, where Baker-Mazara played last season, but the jump from junior college hoops to the SEC is a world apart.

“If you would have told me last year that today, you’ll be playing at Auburn, I would have said, ‘Man, you’re crazy,’” Baker-Mazara joked. “I wake up in the morning thankful for the opportunity I have. I’m really playing SEC basketball. It amazes me.”

Baker-Mazara chose Auburn for two reasons, one for each of his parents.

“How Bruce and the whole coaching staff were with my mother,” Baker-Mazara said. “My mother doesn’t know English and could barely understand them but seeing them taking time on my visit to try to communicate and look up stuff on their phones. Little things like that. They made an extra effort.

“My dad has followed Coach Pearl since he started coaching. He said you’re going to love him. He studied him so much that he coaches like Coach Pearl, the way he treats his players.

“My dad is basically my coach for life. When I wake up, that’s the first phone call I do, Mom and Dad. How y’all doing? Y’all doing great. Okay, I’m going to class.”

A left-handed sharpshooter who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs a lean 180 pounds, No. 10 should be easy to spot this season at Neville Arena.

“Come to the Jungle and check us out,” Baker-Mazara said. “A lot of people have a lot of doubts. Just come see yourself. It’s going to be a great year.”

Some more Brew headlines to make your day ⏬

🏈 Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris is the best rushing defensive lineman in all of college football.

🤞🏼 Enter Road to the Iron Bowl to win this unique experience.

🎾 DJ Bennett punched her tickets to the singles main draw in the ITF Tennis 80K.

💪🏼 Auburn Swim and Dive sure knows how to flex.

🔼 Life Off the Plains. It was a reunion of sorts for Auburn rookies Derick Hall and Owen Pappoe, who played against each other for the first time Sunday in Seattle.

That and more in this week's Auburn-Made NFL rundown.

BEST OF WEEK 7

Montravius Adams, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers
A starter in every game this season, Adams has become a mainstay on the Pittsburgh defensive line. On Sunday, he started once again and matched his season high with four tackles to aid the Steelers in a 24-17 win. It was just the third time in the last four seasons that Adams has registered four or more tackles in a game, with two coming this year.

Angelo Blackson, DL, Jacksonville Jaguars
Though Blackson didn't recover a fumble this week – he had three recoveries in the team's first six games – he played maybe his best game of the season Thursday night to help the Jaguars knock off the New Orleans Saints 31-24. The eighth-year veteran set a new career high with six tackles, including five solo, and had two tackles for loss.

Jamel Dean, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On the same week Blackson set a new career high in tackles, Dean did the same with an impressive 10 tackles against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Now in his fifth season with the Buccaneers, his previous career high was 9 against Dallas in 2021. Dean also recovered a fumble Sunday, the first fumble recovery of his career, to keep the Falcons from scoring before halftime. With his performance, he earned a PFF grade of 81.2.

Rudy Ford, S, Green Bay Packers
Ford continued to make his presence known for Green Bay's defense with another strong game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. He racked up seven tackles, four of which were solo, and finished with a PFF grade of 69.7. Ford now has seven or more tackles in each of the last five games and ranks second on the team with 42 tackles on the season.

Read the article for the full list of Tigers in the NFL.

🔼 Let the Wild Rumpus Start. With a premier recruiting program, new faces are constantly hitting the Plains to play their sports of choice, and softball is no different. Today, we meet newcomer, true freshman, and utility player Thalia Martin, who is already creating quite a commotion.

Hailing from Lilburn, Georgia, Martin has already seen action this fall and is coming off a huge performance in Auburn's fall season finale.

Some Quick Hits on Thalia Martin:

On why she committed to Auburn softball: “Auburn is the pure definition of an ‘everything’ school, and that is something I knew that I wanted to be a part of!”
Why she chose the No. 1 for her jersey: “It's special to me because it is the number I wore when I felt as though I really established myself as an elite player. My little brother and I both wear it, and it means a lot to the both of us.”
What makes Auburn softball special: “There are not many programs that can make you feel like family the second you walk in, and I was blessed enough to feel that family atmosphere right away!”
What’s on her pre-game playlist? Lil’ Baby!

🤔 TIGER TRIVIA

Thrice as Nice. With so much talk about Chad Baker-Mazara’s penchant for hitting threes, today’s trivia is on a big game that involved a record number of three-pointers for Auburn.

On Friday, March 15, 2019, in a game against South Carolina, the Tigers broke the SEC-single season record for 3-pointers made by one team (at the time).

So here’s the question—do you know the number of 3-pointers the Tigers had after closing out that game against the Gamecocks?

Think you know? Scroll down to the bottom to find out.

🐅 ONE BIG THING

Been Caught Stealing. Well, recruiting, actually. How about these impressive rankings for the 2023 recruiting class for Auburn baseball? Time to stock up on some peanuts and Cracker Jack. ⚾️

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Thursday 10/26

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITF 80K

⚽️ Soccer @ Georgia @ 5:00 p.m. CT

Friday 10/27

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITF 80K

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ Roberta Alison Invitational

🏃🏻‍♂️ Men’s Cross Country SEC Championship @ 9:30 a.m. CT

🏃🏽‍♀️ Women’s Cross Country SEC Championship @ 9:45 a.m. CT

🐎 Equestrian vs. South Carolina @ 3:00 p.m. CT

🏐 Volleyball @ Georgia @ 6:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network | Live Video 

Saturday 10/28

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITF 80K

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ Roberta Alison Invitational

🏈 Football vs. Mississippi State @ 2:30 p.m. CT

Sunday 10/29

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITF 80K

⚽️ Soccer SEC Tournament

🏐 Volleyball @ Alabama @ 11:00 a.m. CT on SEC Network | Live Video 

🐅 Click here to view the entire Auburn Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 368!

The previous mark had been set by Arkansas in 1995 at 361.

"Look, we set an SEC record, all time, for the most threes," Pearl said after the game. "We don't just make a lot of them. We shoot a good percentage. We work at them really hard."

What was ironic was that Auburn set the record in a game that was more or less won at the free-throw line, not the 3-point line. The Tigers made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half to pull away from South Carolina.

🐅 Have a great Thursday, y’all