Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl fielded questions on Friday regarding the FBI’s recent investigation into assistant coach Chuck Person.
Pearl opened the press conference with a brief statement on the recent events surrounding the program.
“I stand by the statement that the university issued on Tuesday, and the conduct that is alleged in this complaint is unacceptable,” Pearl said.
When repeatedly asked about certain layers of the investigation and how it would affect the program going forward, Pearl responded in a similiar fashion.
“I can’t, and I won’t, have any further comment,” Pearl said. “I’ve made my statements.”
Friday marked the start of college basketball practice for Auburn and many other teams around the country.
You can view the entire press conference below via the Auburn 247Sports Facebook page:
Lovell’s Analysis
I’m not sure why some people expected this to be a groundbreaking press conference considering that it’s the first day of practice.
Pearl simply wasn’t going to provide juicy details into all the inner happenings of an FBI investigation.
As mentioned throughout the week, this is an ongoing investigation. There are simply things that he can’t comment on, even if many Auburn fans and people around the world of college basketball want immediate answers.
For now, all we have to go by is the charges brought against Person and how it could potentially affect the program going forward. Very few people know the magnitude of the fallout at this stage, but it would be naive to think that more developments aren’t on the way.
What we do know is that the Tigers have already lost a commitment from 5-star prospect E.J. Montgomery, which came shortly after the announced charges against Person.
As for Auburn’s roster, the roster that we expected to see in ’17-18 is still in place, with no players sitting out or serving any sort of suspensions at this point.
It’s easy to speculate on what may be next, but unfortunately, there are still way too many details to iron out considering the wide scope of this investigation.