Suspended Auburn basketball player makes plans for NBA Draft

Auburn basketball player Austin Wiley declared for the 2018 NBA Draft on Tuesday. Wiley, who was one of two Tigers suspended for the 2017-2018 season, will not hire an agent in order to leave the door open for a return to Auburn.

Wiley will go through the draft process in order to evaluate his stock. He has until 5 p.m. on June 11 to withdraw and return to Auburn for his redshirt sophomore season.

"First off I would like to thank God, my family, teammates my coaches and everybody that has helped me get to this moment," Wiley said on Twitter. "Being in the NBA has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I would like to announce that I will enter my name into the 2018 NBA Draft. I will not sign with an agent to keep my NCAA eligibility."

Wiley and Danjel Purifoy were held out by Auburn this past season due to their involvement in the FBI's probe into illicit college basketball recruiting. Former Auburn assistant Chuck Person allegedly paid Wiley's family $7,500 to steer Wiley toward a financial adviser who turned out to be a confidential informant for the FBI.

Despite being ineligible and not playing, both players practiced all season with the Tigers.

Wiley will be eligible to play for Auburn in 2018-2019.

“In spite of all that we went through this season, Austin is still in a great position to accomplish all of his goals,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement. “I think as much as any player in the country who is testing the waters, Austin has the greatest chance to move up in the draft. He’s in great physical condition and has worked extremely hard. He will be impressive at the Combine.”

A consensus five-star player from Hoover, Ala., Wiley played in 23 games as a freshman in 2016-2017. He averaged 8.8 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He had a career-high 25 points against TCU on January 28, 2017.

"Lastly I would like to thank the Auburn family for all their support," Wiley said in his tweet. "War Eagle."

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Suspended Auburn basketball player makes plans for NBA Draft."