There will be no NCAA Tournament for Auburn basketball in 2021
Big basketball news out of Auburn on a Sunday afternoon.
Auburn has announced that it is issuing a self-imposed postseason ban for its men’s basketball team for the 2020-21 season.
“The athletics department and university administration, in conjunction with Coach Bruce Pearl, made the decision after careful deliberation and in light of the ongoing matter that surfaced in fall 2017 regarding former assistant coach Chuck Person,” the statement read. “Auburn has cooperated with the NCAA and will continue to do so.
“We regret the impact this decision has on our student-athletes, yet it was made in the best long-term interest of the program. Because of the ongoing matter, we will not comment further, but hope for swift consideration and resolution of the matter.”
Pearl released the following statement:
“This was a difficult decision, but the right decision. I hate it for our current players. They lost the opportunity for the postseason last year because of COVID, and will miss the postseason again. It’s a two-year postseason penalty for them. However, we need to take this penalty now to put it behind us.”
The penalty apparently stems from the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball that alleged NCAA violations by former Auburn assistant Chuck Person in 2017. Person was arrested and charged with fraud. Person plead guilty to six bribery and fraud charges, but he did not serve prison time.
The school had previously said it had self-imposed sanctions mandating restrictions on recruiting efforts, visits, contacts, phone calls and evaluations during 2017-18.
Auburn finished 25-6 last season.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 5:16 PM.
