A pair of former Auburn stars will participate in one of the NBA’s showcase events in February, the Rising Stars game on Feb. 17 as part of All-Star weekend.

For the second straight season, Rising Stars will feature a three-game mini-tournament among four teams comprised of NBA rookies, sophomores and NBA G League Players.

Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler were named to the game on Tuesday, the NBA announced. The Auburn rookies play for Houston (Smith) and Utah (Kessler).

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl reacted to the news.

“It’s incredible. I’m so happy for both Walker and Jabari,” he said. “Everybody expected Jabari to be able to be there … (Kessler) is an untouchable commodity for the Utah Jazz right now.”

Kessler in 49 games has 15 starts and averages 7.7 points (71.5% shooting), 7.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in 20.2 minutes per game. Smith is averaging 11.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

H/T Tom Green.