Austin Jermaine Wiley (born January 8, 1999) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Neptūnas Klaipėda of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

High school career

Wiley attended

Spain Park High School Spain Park High School (SPHS) is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Hoover. It is the smaller of two high schools in the Hoover City School System. School colors are Carolina blue, black, and white, and the athl ...

Hoover, Alabama Hoover is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in north central Alabama, United States. Hoover is the largest suburban city in Alabama and the 6th largest city in Alabama. The city had a population of 92,606 as of the 2020 US Census. Hoover ...

, where he averaged 27.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots as a junior in 2015–16, before moving to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he went to Calusa Preparatory School in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, while playing basketball at The Conrad Academy in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. He signed a

national letter of intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

with

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

on November 9, 2016, following in the footsteps of his parents who both are Auburn alumni. On December 16, 2016, Wiley decided to reclassify into the class of 2016 and enroll early into Auburn. Wiley was rated as a five-star recruit and the No.27 overall recruit and No.6 center in the 2016 high school class.

College career

Freshman

Wiley made his debut for the Tigers on December 18, 2016, tallying nine points, three rebounds and two blocks in a 76–74 win over

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

. He finished his freshman year with averages of 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 18 minutes per game.

FBI investigation

Before Auburn's exhibition game on November 2, 2017, the school announced that it would hold Wiley and teammate Danjel Purifoy out of games indefinitely due to eligibility concerns raised over the ongoing FBI investigation into the

Chuck Person Chuck Connors Person (born June 28, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. Person played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was the 1987 NBA Rookie of the Year. Person played college basketball at Aubu ...

bribery scandal. 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. Wiley was one of 69 players to enter the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

NBA Draft Combine The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase that takes place every May before the annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players are measured and take medical tests, are interviewed, perform various athletic tests and shootin ...

, although he would return to Auburn to properly play for them for at least his junior season.

Junior

As a junior, Wiley averaged 6.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. He was hampered by injuries and underwent surgery after the season. However, he was a part of Auburn's first ever Final Four team.

Senior

Coming into his senior season, Wiley was tabbed as preseason econ Team All- SEC by the coaches and was on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watchlist. On February 12, 2020, Wiley scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, and blocked five shots in a 95–91 overtime win over

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. As a senior, Wiley averaged 10.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, second in the conference in rebounding.

Professional career

On January 2, 2021, he signed with

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

(BBL). He appeared in one league game for Ludwigsburg, in which he remained scoreless. Wiley moved to German second division side

Gladiators Trier Gladiators Treves, for sponsorship reasons known as Römerstrom Gladiators Trier, is a professional basketball club based in Trier, Germany. The club plays in the ProA. Their home arena is Trier Arena, which has a capacity of 5,495 people. From 199 ...

on January 20, 2021. In six league games of the 2020-21 season, he averaged 14.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Gladiators.

National team career

Wiley helped Team USA capture gold at the 2016 FIBA under-17 World Championships in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and bronze at the 2017 FIBA under-19 World Cup in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 22 , , 18.0 , , .584 , , – , , .491 , , 4.7 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.3 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 5 , , 13.0 , , .567 , , .000 , , .571 , , 4.0 , , .1 , , .2 , , 1.3 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 21.4 , , .574 , , .000 , , .671 , , 9.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.6 , , 10.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 83 , , 58 , , 17.5 , , .575 , , .000 , , .592 , , 6.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.4 , , 8.8

Personal life

He is the son of

Vickie Orr Victoria Elaine "Vickie" Orr (born February 25, 1967) is an American retired women's basketball player. She was a member of the United States women's national basketball team during the late 1980s and the early 1990s, collecting two medals during ...

, a member of the 1992 US Olympic team and former All-American, and Aubrey Wiley. Both played varsity basketball at Auburn.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiley, Austin 1999 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama Centers (basketball) People from Hoover, Alabama