AuburnFamilyNews.com: THANK YOU SENIORS: Austin Wiley

Thursday, March 19, 2020

THANK YOU SENIORS: Austin Wiley

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Auburn vs Kansas Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Our 4th installment of my tribute to the seniors features Austin Wiley!

This week, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of the seniors that contributed greatly to the success of the Auburn Basketball program. I really hoped we would celebrating their run through their 3rd consecutive NCAA Tournament but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. If you know me, I like countdowns and I thought it would be a great idea to look back at some of these senior’s best games in an Auburn uniform. Next up is Austin Wiley.

Thank you Austin for coming to Auburn! Like Danjel, you also dealt with a lot of adversity while you were at Auburn but like Danjel, you remained loyal and stuck with Auburn through thick and thin. You battled through injuries and suspensions and put together a great senior season. We appreciate all that you did for the Auburn Basketball program.

Austin’s Career Stats

Freshman: 8.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG

Sophomore: Did Not Play

Junior: 6.9 PPG, 4 RPG

Senior: 10.6 PPG, 9.3 RPG

Austin joined the team midway through the 2016-2017 season to a great deal of fanfare. He started the last 22 games that season and provided the Tigers a go-to guy in the paint. The game I think many people will remember the most from that season was his first game against Alabama where Austin had 19 points and 9 rebounds. His 2nd half gave Auburn fans a glimpse of what Austin was capable of.

After missing the 2017-2018 season due to suspension, Austin would return for the Washington game after missing the first game due to injury. Auburn Arena went nuts when Wiley entered the game for the first time.

Wiley averaged about 12 points a game during the non-conference but dealt with injuries throughout SEC play. Austin would provide a spark off the bench in the SEC Tournament playing some big minutes in wins over South Carolina and Florida. He also had 7 points off the bench in Auburn’s Elite 8 win over Kentucky. But I think the one play will always remember from Austin’s junior season is this:

Austin was able to play all 31 games his senior season and had his best year as an Auburn Tiger. He had 13 double-doubles this season, including 3 straight against LSU, Alabama and Missouri.

Let’s look back at Austin’s best scoring performances as an Auburn Tiger! (You will notice there are 6 here for Austin, instead of 5 because I didn’t want to break the tie).

T4. 18 points - 11/14/18 vs Mississippi College

1 of 3 18 point games for Austin Wiley. The 18 points for Austin were a season high his junior season for the Tigers. He was 5-7 from the field, 8-10 from the free throw line and had 7 rebounds.

T4. 18 points - 11/26/19 vs Richmond

Austin was 6-7 from the field, 6-11 from the free throw line and had 8 rebounds in the Legends Classic Championship win over the Richmond Spiders. This was one of Auburn’s best non-conference wins of the season as the Spiders look poised to make the NCAA Tournament before the season was cut short.

T4. 18 points - 2/12/20 vs Alabama

Alabama brought the best out of Austin Wiley. Wiley had a career high 17 rebounds in this one, an OT win over Alabama. Wiley was 6-9 from the field, 6-11 from the free throw line and his dunk with 30 seconds left would help seal a win for Auburn.

3. 19 points - 1/21/17 vs Alabama

We showed the 2 dunks from this game earlier in this story but this truly was the game where Austin arrived. He had 15 of his 19 in the 2nd half and the Tide simply couldn’t stop him.

2. 22 points - 2/15/20 at Missouri

Without Isaac Okoro due to his hamstring injury, the Tigers got big performances from both J’Von McCormick and Wiley. A season high in points for Wiley, he was 9-12 from the field, 4-8 from the line and had 10 rebounds in this contest.

1. 25 points - 1/28/17 at TCU

In just 21 minutes, Austin had an incredibly efficient game in Fort Worth back in 2017. He was 11-13 from the field, and had 7 rebounds. He was 3-7 from the free throw line in a solid road win in the 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge, Auburn’s 1st ever win in the event.

To close, thank you Austin for coming to Auburn and for all you did for this program! We are going to miss having you protect the paint, getting offensive rebounds and 2nd chance points such as this:

Best of luck at the next level Austin!



from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/3/19/21187071/thank-you-seniors-austin-wiley
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