BOOM breakdown: Kaden Magwood commits
Get to know Auburn's latest guard commit
Kaden Magwood became the second member of Auburn’s 2025 recruiting class on Nov. 12, choosing the Tigers over Ole Miss and NC State.
Magwood’s commitment makes him the highest rated member of Auburn’s class and gives the Tigers a combo-guard ranked as a top 60, four-star guard by 247, Rivals, and ESPN.
Regardless of which ranking service you put your faith in, Magwood has the shooting potential to become a special player in the college ranks.
During the most recent AAU summer circuit, Magwood averaged 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, while shooting 39.5 percent from three. He had an eight game stretch during the summer where he shot a whopping 63 percent from three while averaging 24.1 points per game. As a junior at Oak Hill, he averaged 17.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, 43.6 percent from three, and 78.8 percent from the line.
His fit at Auburn is almost self-explanatory. Magwood is an undersized shooting guard with potential to play point guard. He’s fast, he can shoot, he thrives in transition, and he stays in attack mode when he’s on the court.
The guard—who is listed at 6-1 by recruiting publications and 6-3 on his teams’ websites—does play point guard for his high school team, in a two-point-guard lineup mostly, but I think he’ll play the off-ball role at Auburn early on like Tahaad Pettiford was expected to handle this season. His shooting skills might even demand a few off-ball minutes, even after his point guard skills polish up.
However, I wouldn’t compare the two. While Pettiford is more of a point guard who can slide off-ball, Magwood (at least for now) is a shooting guard who can handle point guard duties.
Kaden Magwood the scoring guard
For the top 60 guard out of North Carolina, shooting and scoring are the first things that pop on the film.
Magwood has a long wingspan, good rise on his jumper, a quick shot, and the dribble moves necessary to create space. He has done so at high levels for several teams, including on the Adidas AAU circuit, for Oak Hill Academy, and now for Combine Academy’s national team. His wingspan and shooting mechanics look like they will translate to the college level easily, making him a shooting threat from day one.
Magwood can also blow by his defenders with his quick first step. He needs to improve his finishing ability and handle, but he gets good looks thanks to his speed and fearlessness. He even has a good mid-range game that lets him pull up while driving, while his awareness and passing ability let him dump it off to his bigs or kick it to open guards on the perimeter. His versatility and all-around offensive ability make him a three level scorer and someone who will fit well no matter how Auburn’s roster shakes out.
Combine Academy also plays Magwood at point guard. He plays well at the position, runs pick and rolls, two man games, and other ball screens. He has the vision and awareness to play the position.
The senior guard also scores and passes well in transition and constantly plays with his head up, adding to his fit in Auburn’s system.
Where he can improve
Magwood has the potential to be a great college player if he improves some of his point guard skills, even if he improves those skills and stays at shooting guard for his college career.
I’ve read critiques that Magwood is too ball-dominant and forces too much. Maybe that was the case before he started playing his combo-guard position at Combine, but this season’s film shows Magwood as arguably the most willing passer on his team. He still looks for his shot a lot, but it’s becoming rarer for him to force things. I think adding some extra finishing ability will help some of the forced shots look less forced.
Sometimes his passing and handle get the better of him, resulting in turnovers or plays that aren’t executed as well as an elite point guard might handle them. Letting him play off-ball while those skills develop could be the perfect answer to maximizing his scoring potential while the rest catches up. Improving those skills will make him a more dangerous shooting guard and will give him and Auburn more versatility – especially with all of the success and lineups we’ve seen Auburn use this season featuring two guys who can play the point.
Magwood also gets knocked on defense, and I think these critiques are more warranted. His long wingspan and his burst and awareness are apparent. He uses those traits to jump passing lanes and rack up steals, but he has the potential to be elite on that side of the court. I watched him in a game against UNC commit Isaiah Dennis, however, and Magwood wasn’t eager to matchup with him. Maybe that was by design from one or both coaches, but I only saw Magwood defend him once — and he was screened on the play.
Auburn’s coaching style and individual player-demands will force Magwood to put in more effort on that end of the court, where he should develop into another elite perimeter defender for Auburn. his wingspan and steal numbers indicate that he has plenty of potential. His defense, as well as other aspects of his game, seem like they’ll really open up with some fine tuning. He has the IQ and awareness to be great.
Everything indicates (to me) that Magwood will be the type of player who improves from now until when he gets to Auburn. He plays smart, practices a lot based on his shooting, and he has played for elite high school programs – giving him an idea of the work that’ll be required at Auburn.
In fact, most of the areas that I identify as weaknesses for Magwood are also areas that could be improved by simply committing to Auburn’s system and style of play. He’ll be forced to learn and play good defense to earn minutes from Bruce Pearl. Auburn has become known for sharing the ball and using deep rotations in recent years, which will help grow Magwood’s passing mentality and will ease him into the shooting guard role and eventually the point guard role.
The fact that Magwood won’t be forced to carry his team early on at Auburn should help him with his shot selection and the offense he sometimes forces. In a similar fashion to what we’ve seen from Miles Kelly this year.
The commitment gives Auburn two guards in its 2025 class, with Simon Walker (a 6-5 shooting guard ranked No. 138) already on board.
Auburn is still in the mix for several elite players in 2025, such as Sebastian Williams-Adams, Bryson Tiller, Shon Abaev, and others. Expect a large class for the Tigers this season, as Pettiford and Jahki Howard are the only scholarship players with future eligibility on this season’s roster.