The 2017–18 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach was Bruce Pearl in his fourth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 26–8, 13–5 in SEC play to win a share of the SEC regular season championship. They lost to Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. The Tigers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003, where they defeated College of Charleston to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Clemson.
Previous season The Tigers finished the 2016–17 season 18–14, 7–11 in SEC play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Missouri.
FBI investigation
On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges of fraud and corruption against 10 people involved in college basketball, including Auburn associate head coach Chuck Person. The charges allege that Person and others allegedly received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services. Shortly thereafter, the school suspended Person without pay. Person was indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently fired by Auburn on November 7, 2017.
Before Auburn's exhibition game on November 2, 2017, the school announced that it would hold players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out of games indefinitely due to eligibility concerns raised over the FBI investigation. On January 12, 2018, the NCAA ruled that Wiley would regain his eligibility in the 2018–19 season, ruling him ineligible for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure T. J. Dunans 4 G 6'5" 174 RS Senior Atlanta, GA Graduated LaRon Smith 12 F 6'8" 215 RS Senior Palm Bay, FL Graduated T. J. Lang 23 G 6'7" 210 Junior Mobile, AL Transferred to South Florida Mike Cohen 25 G 5'10" 175 Freshman Voorhees, NJ Walk-on; didn't return Devin Waddell 31 F 6'5" 225 Senior Summerfield, NC Graduated Ronnie Johnson 35 G 6'0" 180 RS Senior Indianapolis, IN Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Malik Dunbar 14 G/F 6'6" 225 Junior North Augusta, SC Junior college transferred College of Central Florida Samir Doughty 20 G 6'4" 185 RS Sophomore Philadelphia, PA Transferred from VCU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Doughty will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
2017 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| SEC regular season
!colspan=9 style=| SEC Tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
References