Auburn center Austin Wiley has suffered a lower left leg injury and is currently in a boot.
According to Michael Niziolek of Auburn Undercover, Wiley suffered the injury at a players’ practice on Saturday.
There is no timetable for his return, and he is schedule to receive daily treatment for the injury.
Wiley was forced to miss Auburn’s overseas trip to Italy this summer after suffering a stress fracture on the same leg at the FIFA U19 World Cup in Cairo.
The 6-11 sophomore averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds last season.
Lovell’s Analysis
It hasn’t been a positive week for Auburn basketball.
After the whirlwind surrounding Chuck Person’s arrest on FBI charges last week, now there’s more unfortunate news surrounding the program.
Wiley is certainly expected to be a huge piece of the puzzle this year for the Tigers, which is exactly why I awarded him with SEC Most Improved Player honors heading into the season.
It sounds like this injury is a bit different than the one he suffered during the summer, and there are still unknowns regarding when he’ll return to the floor for Bruce Pearl and company.
Of course, the hope is that this doesn’t turn into a nagging injury since it’s on the same leg.
Wiley’s increased strength and aggressiveness was one of the biggest talking points this offseason in the SEC, so it would be disappointing to see him out for an extended amount of time.
As Pearl told me this offseason, Auburn’s focus this season will be running a lot more offense through Wiley. The Tigers weren’t able to do that last season due to him joining the team mid-season, and now there will be a more dedicated effort to feed him the ball in the post.
But for now, it’s a waiting game to see how serious this injury is and what’s next in terms of Wiley’s rehab.