Auburn target Federiko Federiko committed to Texas A&M earlier this week, giving Aggies first-year head coach Bucky McMillan an early victory over Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers. Pearl and his staff had zeroed in on the 6-foot-11 big man before McMillan secured his commitment. After starting nearly 80% of the games he played in as a Pitt Panther from 2022-2024, Federiko occupied a key bench role for the Texas Tech Red Raiders last season. The junior averaged 19 minutes per game over 35 contests, averaging 5.1 points and 4.5 rebounds over the course of a loaded BIG 12 schedule. Although Federiko doesn’t bring much of an offensive game, the Helsinki, Finland native has averaged over a block per contest during his three-year collegiate career. His ability to protect the rim was likely what made Federiko an inticing prospect in the portal for the Tigers, especially considering the Bruce Pearl’s squad is set to lose the shot-blocking duo Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Federiko now heads to College Station where head coach Bucky McMillan may opt to use him in a role similar to that of former Samford big man Achor Achor. With Achor as the best scoring and shot blocking option for McMillan’s Bulldogs two seasons ago, Samford claimed a Southern Conference Championship before narrowly missing out on an NCAA Tournament upset of Kansas in the Round of 64. Auburn will now set its sites on another front court option in the portal to pair with freshman Sebastian Williams-Adams and transfers KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State) and Emeka Opurum (Butler Community College). UCF combo forward Keyshawn Hall is also a candidate to join the front court rotation after Chad Baker-Mazara left the Plains on a big jet plane to California.