Auburn self-reports money thrown at players

[aubiefifty 16,717]

Auburn self-reports money thrown at basketball players after Florida loss

Updated Feb 26, 9:10 PM; Posted Feb 26, 2:45 PM

Florida coach Mike White, left, greets Auburn coach Bruce Pearl before an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Ron Irby)(AP Photo)

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By Tom Green

tgreen@al.com

Auburn has self-reported to its compliance department following an incident at the end of the Tigers' road game against Florida on Saturday night in Gainesville, Fla.

Video surfaced online after the game of Florida fans in the stands throwing money at Auburn players as they walked off the court at Exactech Arena following the Tigers' 72-66 loss to the Gators. It is unclear on the video if the money is real or fake, or how much of it there is, but Pearl confirmed Monday that it was, indeed, real currency--and that his team has reported the incident to the university's compliance department so as to avoid any NCAA violations.

"It was real money, and I think there's $5 or $6 that are out there, and because you guys know we're compliant, we've actually turned that money over to compliance," Pearl said. "Really. I don't know, it was five or six bucks, but our people have the money. I don't know what they're going to do with it, probably give it to charity, but we've already self-reported."

An SEC spokesman did not respond to an AL.com request for comment. A Florida team spokesman declined comment when reached by AL.com on Monday.

Florida fans threw the money at Auburn players as a means of taunting the Tigers, whose program was enveloped in the FBI's investigation into the criminal influence of money on college basketball. Then-associate head coach Chuck Person was one of 10 people arrested on Sept. 26 as part of the investigation and is alleged to have accepted $91,500 in bribes to funnel Auburn players toward a crooked financial adviser.

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The investigation cost Person his job, and he currently faces federal charges including bribery and conspiracy, which he will stand trial for next year. It has also resulted in the Tigers being without two of their best players this season, as Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy have been held out amid concerns about their eligibility.

Wiley was ruled ineligible by the NCAA last month and had his appeal denied earlier this month. He is eligible to return next season, should he not turn pro. Auburn is still awaiting word on the status of Purifoy, whose mother is alleged to have accepted $11,000 from Person.

Despite that, Auburn has put together one of the most surprising seasons in the country. The Tigers are ranked 14th, sit atop the SEC with a 24-5 record and 12-4 mark in league play, and they can clinch at least a share of just their third conference title in program history with a win Tuesday against Arkansas or a Tennessee loss that same night.

When asked if the incident with the Florida fans was the strangest thing to happen to his team on the road this season, Pearl smirked and said, "it's just college basketball."

The taunt didn't sit well with at least one Auburn player.

"That was kind of different," guard Bryce Brown said. "I've never seen nothing like that. I'll remember that next time we play them. I didn't like that. I didn't like how they tried us like that. I didn't like that."

AL.com will update this post.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[AUfan_UAgrad 230]

They should find the name of the chick in the video and donate the money to Auburn Athletics in her name.  Then send her a thank you note for her donation.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

[TigerOne 1,140]

Think Bruce is taking a jab at the NCAA?

Our players just found that money on the ground, it wasn't given to any one particular player.

Michigan State provided some clarity regarding what exactly went down Friday and Saturday leading to Miles Bridges being cleared for competition following a report about his family allegedly receiving impermissible benefits.

Bridges was named in a Yahoo! Sports report Friday morning that looked at bank records from former NBA agent Andy Miller and his former associate Christian Dawkins, who was arrested as part of the FBI’s probe into corruption in college basketball. One of Dawkins’ expense reports said that Dawkins spent $70.50 on “Lunch w/Miles Bridges Parents,” with another expense listing an “ATM Withdrawal, Miles Bridges mom advance. $400.”

MSU announced Saturday afternoon that Bridges was cleared for competition, and head coach Tom Izzo said after Sunday's win over Wisconsin that an investigation by MSU that was passed onto the NCAA found that the report of Bridges' mom accepting $400 was "completely not true." However, considering that MSU found out Bridges was cleared an hour before leaving for Madison on Saturday, Izzo wasn't able to explain any further details.

An MSU spokesman sent out a release Monday explaining the process that led to Bridges being eligible to play roughly 36 hours after the report was first published.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Ok... I always liked Pearl, but now I LOVE him. That is awesome. Serious points to Tom Green for being willing to write an article that is a direct jab at the NCAA, the classless Florida fans, and everyone else calling for Pearl's head.  

[AUGoo 2,659]

AUsome!!

[AUApostle 7,648]

I hope this puts bad voodoo on Florida the same way smoking cigars in LSU put bad voodoo on our football team.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

No telling what Wiley runs in to if he comes back next year. SEC fans can be a creative bunch for sure. He’ll need a sense of humor and just roll with it. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

Ok... I always liked Pearl, but now I LOVE him. That is awesome. Serious points to Tom Green for being willing to write an article that is a direct jab at the NCAA, the classless Florida fans, and everyone else calling for Pearl's head.  

My admiration for CBP went up  a few notches after the interview with Harper last week when AU beat bammer. One of the broadcasters doing the after-game with Harper said that last year after he criticized Harper live on the air Coach Pearl called him and nicely defended his freshman player. The broadcaster, after telling the story of Bruce's call last season... then asked Harper to forgive him. Gotta love Bruce for having the teams' backs with the media.

[aubiefifty 16,717]

i love coach pearl! he is a winner, a great person, and he has that 'it' factor as well.but i think i love him most for loving Auburn the way he does...............