re: #tAuburnBasketball Thread

Sam Blum
@SamBlum3
NEWS: The
@AuburnMBB program had long kept private their severe self-imposed sanctions from Sept. 2017-April 2018, until now. During that time, Auburn didn't conduct any recruiting. No visits of any kind. No contacts. No phone calls. No evaluations.

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In the aftermath of the September 2017 arrest of former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person, Auburn imposed a long list of previously unreported self-imposed sanctions. Those sanctions included restrictions that limited unofficial visits, official visits, contacts, evaluations and phone calls.

In fact, Auburn did not conduct recruiting of any kind from September 2017-April 2018, Auburn Athletics told AL.com. There were no official visits, no unofficial visits, and no contacts or phone calls made to any recruits during that time.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl made a somewhat ominous comment on a July 29 podcast, when he said, "We took some real strong penalties, a lot of which have never been made public — at some point will be.”

Now we know that Auburn, during its incredible and unexpected run to its first NCAA Tournament in 15 years, wasn’t conducting any recruiting at the time.

Interview requests for Pearl, compliance director Rich McGlynn and athletic director Allen Greene were not granted. The Office of the General Counsel did not respond to a request for official documents pertaining to these sanctions. When AL.com followed up with Pearl directly, he responded by saying, via text, “If it’s OK with you, I’m leaving those subjects alone and refer you to compliance.”

While it has long been known that Auburn held out Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley for the entire 2017-18 season — and Purifoy an additional nine games — AU had never announced any further sanctions.

That decision was a proactive one by Auburn. Both players likely would have been ruled ineligible at a future date, and more severe penalties, including the vacating of wins, could have been enforced.

But there were more self-imposed sanctions in addition to Purifoy and Wiley’s suspensions. And while it is impossible to prove any direct correlation, Auburn did not have any true freshmen scholarship players on last years roster, despite having multiple open scholarships.

The program is no longer under any self-imposed penalty.

All of the self-imposed sanctions and possible NCAA sanctions come as a result of Person’s crimes. The former assistant coach was charged, and later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the bribery scheme, which included direct payments to Wiley, Purifoy and their families. Auburn University tried to distance itself from Person’s actions in a Victim Impact Statement sent to the court before his sentencing.

In the Victim Impact Statement, AU said it expected to receive a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA, and that it carries the potential for further NCAA sanctions. Pearl reiterated that expectation on Rothstein’s podcast.

“I am anticipating that we are not finished completely,” Pearl told Rothstein. “I am anticipating because we have gotten through a lot of things with the NCAA, obviously with the federal government, that case is closed. But I would [anticipate] that we would have to finish some things up. I do feel like the worst is behind us.”

When asked if Auburn had received a Notice of Allegations, an Auburn Athletics spokesman said he couldn’t comment and referred AL.com to the Victim Impact Statement.

AL.com has learned from a source, though, that the Auburn has not yet received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA.

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