2017–18 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2017–18
Team:Auburn Tigers
Conference:Southeastern Conference
Short Conf:SEC
Coachrank:23
Aprank:19
Record:26–8
Conf Record:13–5
Hc Year:4th
Asst Coach1:Harris Adler
Asst Coach2:Steven Pearl
Champion:SEC regular season co-champions
Bowl Result:Second Round

The 2017–18 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach was Bruce Pearl in his fourth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 26–8, 13–5 in SEC play to win a share of the SEC regular season championship. They lost to Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated College of Charleston to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Clemson.[1]

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2016–17 season 18–14, 7–11 in SEC play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Missouri.

FBI investigation

See main article: 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal. On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges of fraud and corruption against 10 people involved in college basketball, including Auburn associate head coach Chuck Person.[2] The charges allege that Person and others allegedly received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services.[3] Shortly thereafter, the school suspended Person without pay.[4] Person was indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently fired by Auburn on November 7, 2017.[5]

Before Auburn's exhibition game on November 2, 2017, the school announced that it would hold players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out of games indefinitely due to eligibility concerns raised over the FBI investigation.[6] On January 12, 2018, the NCAA ruled that Wiley would regain his eligibility in the 2018–19 season, ruling him ineligible for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[7]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
T. J. Dunans 4 G 6'5" 174 RS Senior Graduated
LaRon Smith 12 F 6'8" 215 RS Senior Graduated
T. J. Lang 23 G 6'7" 210 Junior Transferred to South Florida
Mike Cohen 25 G 5'10" 175 Freshman Walk-on; didn't return
Devin Waddell 31 F 6'5" 225 Senior Graduated
35 G 6'0" 180 RS Senior Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Malik Dunbar 14 G/F 6'6" 225 Junior Junior college transferred College of Central Florida
20 G 6'4" 185 RS Sophomore Transferred from VCU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Doughty will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

2017 recruiting class

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| SEC regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| SEC Tournament|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament

Rankings

See also: 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2017-18 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results. 18 April 2019.
  2. News: NCAA coaches among 10 arrested for corruption. ESPN.com. 2017-09-26.
  3. News: FBI arrests four college basketball assistants on charges of fraud. USA TODAY. 2017-09-26. en.
  4. News: Chuck Person suspended without pay following arrest; university 'saddened, angry'. AL.com. 2017-10-10. en-US.
  5. News: Chuck Person indicted by federal grand jury, fired by Auburn. USA TODAY. 2017-11-08. en.
  6. News: Auburn holding out Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley indefinitely amid FBI probe. CBSSports.com. 2017-11-02. en.
  7. News: Wiley eligible for 2018-19 season. rpowell. 2018-01-11. NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA. 2018-01-12.