The news came down during the middle of Auburn's practice last Thursday: Austin Wiley was ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season.
The NCAA made its ruling regarding Wiley's eligibility in connection with the FBI probe into the criminal influence of money on college basketball, declaring that the Auburn sophomore center -- whose mother is alleged to have accepted a combined $12,500 from former associate head coach Chuck Person and co-conspirator Rashan Michel -- would have to sit out the remainder of the season but would be eligible to return in 2018-19.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl gathered his team after practice on Thursday to break the news to them. Wiley was, understandably, upset about the decision, with teammate Bryce Brown saying "it was rough" on Wiley.
"I'm obviously disappointed in the decision, and I trust the process," Pearl said Tuesday. "I don't know all the details, but I hate it for the young man. I hate it for Austin."
While the NCAA's ruling brought some finality to Wiley's case, Auburn is still trying to appeal the decision. As for the status of redshirt sophomore forward Danjel Purifoy, Pearl said there is no update on that front as the school continues to work through the process regarding his eligibility.
Purifoy is believed to be identified in the federal complaint against Person as "Player-1," whose mother allegedly accepted $11,000 from the former assistant coach, and he has not seen the court this season as Auburn has held him out amid eligibility concerns.
"We don't know any final word on Danjel yet," Pearl said. "I do know that we're still appealing the decision with Austin and going through the process with Danjel. But at this point, those guys are back in school. They practiced with us (Monday) and they can't travel today."
Both Wiley and Purifoy remain enrolled in classes for the semester, and Pearl said he has been doing everything he can to make this season as normal as possible for them despite everything else. Regardless of what ultimately comes of their eligibility the remainder of the season, though, Pearl said he expects both to do their due diligence after the season when it comes to the NBA Draft.
Wiley has been projected as a late first- or second-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, while Purifoy could potentially be selected at some point as well.
"Danjel and Austin, they've lost their eligibility this year for other reasons, and so at the end of this semester, I would expect both those guys to find out where'd they be in the draft and go through the process and see," Pearl said. "That was our plan all along, that this would be Austin's kind of one-and-done year, for sure. Anyways, we'll deal with that this spring."
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.