Auburn basketball’s Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley out indefinitely amid eligibility concerns

Auburn announced Thursday that forward Danjel Purifoy and center Austin Wiley are out indefinitely “to avoid any potential eligibility issues.” The concern is rooted in a federal complaint against former assistant Chuck Person.

“To avoid any potential eligibility issues, Auburn Athletics has decided to hold men’s basketball players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out indefinitely,” the school released in a statement. “Because this is related to an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

The Tigers open their season Thursday night with an exhibition against Barry University.

Wiley is the son of former Auburn women’s basketball star Vickie Orr and enrolled midway through the season a year ago. He averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Purifoy was the second-leading scorer and rebounder last year, averaging 11.5 and 4.7 respectively. He also led the team in 3-pointers made with 59.

Purifoy has practiced some this preseason, but Wiley has not practiced fully after experiencing a lower leg injury. Head coach Bruce Pearl stated last week that any player with eligibility concerns would not play in the exhibition.

So it begins.