Auburn University to forgo basketball postseason

A bombshell came out of the Auburn basketball department when it was announced that the Tigers will forgo postseason basketball for the 2020-21 season.

From the press release:

The Auburn men’s basketball program will forgo postseason competition for the upcoming 2020-2021 season. The NCAA and the SEC have been notified.

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. 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.

Bruce Pearl 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 now they 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.”