Sophomore big man Austin Wiley will return to Auburn for the 2018/19 season after initially entering the NBA draft without an agent, he tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link).
Wiley, who averaged 8.8 PPG and 4.7 RPG for the Tigers in his freshman year back in 2016/17, didn’t play at all during his sophomore season. Auburn initially opted to sit Wiley out due to concerns about a link to former associate head coach Chuck Person, who was being investigated by the FBI, and he was eventually ruled ineligible for 2017/18. However, he should be cleared to return next season.
Despite not having played in a game for over a year, Wiley earned a spot on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, ranking as the No. 81 prospect in this year’s draft class. The young center will look to boost his stock next season and will have another chance to declare for the draft as an early entrant in 2019.
As ESPN’s Jeff Goodman observes (via Twitter), Wiley is one of several dominoes to fall for the Tigers. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown are also testing the draft waters, but are likely to withdraw before Wednesday’s deadline. It’s not clear what Mustapha Heron‘s plans are — he voiced his intent to sign with an agent nearly two months ago, but has yet to actually hire representation, per Goodman.