Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl preseason statement on Chuck Person. Matthew Stevens
AUBURN — Auburn sophomore center Austin Wiley will not be allowed to play in the 2017-18 season.
The NCAA ruled Thursday evening that Wiley will not be eligible for competition until the 2018-19 season after Auburn self-reported violations involving recruiting, extra benefits and agent-related activity. Auburn can appeal this NCAA ruling to the NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement.
Auburn University released a statement following the NCAA's ruling that the school "will follow the normal NCAA appeals process based on today's decision."
According to the NCAA ruling, Auburn self-reported amateurism violations that involving recruiting issues, extra benefits to the student-athlete and agent-related activity.
A spokesperson for the university president’s office confirmed in a statement to the Montgomery Advertiser Thursday evening that the athletics compliance office was waiting for a ruling on a request in the student-athlete reinstatement process.
“Auburn applied for reinstatement after an NCAA interpretation impacting eligibility for one of the student-athletes,” the statement reads. “On the other student-athlete, the investigation is ongoing. Again, we hope the NCAA will grant our request.”
Wiley and third-year sophomore Danjel Purifoy have both been held out of the first 16 games of the 2017-18 season following the arrest and indictment of former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person in September. Neither player had been cleared for competition by the NCAA but have remained on scholarship and eligible to practice.
The spokesperson for the president’s office declined multiple attempts by the Advertiser to reveal which of the two players the school has request reinstatement for but suggested Auburn was anticipating a ruling “very soon” on its request.
Pearl said earlier Thursday morning that he remained hopeful that both ineligible players would be cleared for competition with 15 regular season games left along with a conference tournament and a possible postseason run.
“I still know that we're working with the NCAA through that process,” Pearl said Thursday morning. “I think it's still a possibility.”
Pearl also reiterated Thursday morning that both Wiley and Purifory were enrolled in spring semester classes and expected to remain on scholarship throughout the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Both players were present on the bench in street clothes during Auburn’s 85-70 win over Ole Miss Tuesday night.
More: Pearl says he's prepared to play Wiley or Purifoy once reinstated
Without either Wiley or Purifoy, Auburn (15-1, 3-0 in SEC) currently has the nation’s second longest active winning streak at 13 straight wins and is ranked for the first time in 15 years. Without two projected starters, Auburn is on pace to end one of the longest NCAA Tournament droughts among all Power 5 Conference programs.
Pearl said last week he expects both Wiley and Purifoy to be immediately ready to play the minute Auburn athletics compliance informs the coaching staff of any status change.
“The adversity is the reality. The reality is we got a lot smaller real quick and then we had to overcome that,” Pearl said Thursday. “Our hearts and minds are more broken for Austin and for Danjel that they’re not able to play. Now you catch an injury, we catch foul trouble. We find ourselves in a position where we’re at Murray State and we got six guys that are available to us, and now all of a sudden it’s really affected our ability to win or lose because we’re so short as far as the body count is concerned.”