By Mallory Mattingly
Auburn basketball star Dylan Cardwell still gave God the glory at the Neville Arena following the Tigers loss to Florida in the Final Four.
“First and foremost, all glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” he began with tears in his eyes. “This past year has been the greatest year of my life and for me, I didn’t want to see it end. I’m sad it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but regardless if we won a National Championship, I didn’t want the season to end. These are my brothers, my best friends and people I’d give my life for.”
“The season flew by, and [I] cherished every single moment with these guys, and it shatters my heart that we won’t be able to be together as a team anymore,” the center continued. “I don’t care about the game, about the outcome of the game; I only care about being with my teammates, being with my friends, being with my family.”
Cardwell finished the game with nine points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. However, the center would end up fouling out of the game, according to ESPN.
Once he fouled out, Cardwell went to the bench and prayed.
Faith is a “catalyst” for Auburn’s basketball team, led by head coach Bruce Pearl, who is of Jewish faith. Cardwell spoke more about faith during a press conference.
Related: Auburn Basketball Praises God on Their Way to Final Four
“Christian, Judaism, you know, we might have our differences, but, you know, we believe in the same God, and it’s just been great to see and encouraging to see that I am under a coach who just is so vocal about his own faith but allows us to pursue our own,” he said in the post-game press conference. “He encourages us to be vocal about it. The role faith plays on this team is the biggest role possible. We wouldn’t be here without it. It’s a huge catalyst for us.”
Cardwell added, “We wouldn’t be as humble as we are, we wouldn’t be as connected as we are without faith.”
He shared that Pearl encouraged his team to have breakfast together and even do Bible studies with one another.
“I’ve never seen a coach like him. To encourage these things. Without these Bible studies, we wouldn’t be able to connect with each other on a deeper level outside of basketball,” Cardwell said. “The word of our year has been ‘sacrifice,’ and you don’t know sacrifice if you don’t know Jesus Christ. He’s the one who died for all of our sins, and that’s kind of been the reason that we’ve had this level of urgency lately. We understand that on the other side of our sacrifice is the potential to play for a National Championship and win a National Championship, not just for our own glory but for the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Although the Auburn Tigers came up short in the Final Four, their steadfast faith is encouraging to see.
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