While Auburn basketball is experiencing tremendous success on the court, the cloud of uncertainty about the future of the program persists.
The school's investigation of the program stemming from the FBI's case against former assistant coach Chuck Person is still ongoing and coach Bruce Pearl has still not met with Auburn president Steven Leath or lawyers from law firm Lightfoot, Franklin & White for a formal interview.
"Bruce and his staff are doing a great job on the court," Leath said Friday. "Clearly, Bruce knows that my expectation is that sooner or later he's going to have to come in and talk to me and others on campus about what's going on in the program and we're moving towards a solution on that, but that is an expectation."
In emails to fans sent in November, Leath said Pearl's "unwillingness to even talk" was "troublesome." There has been dialogue between Pearl and school officials for months, but not in an on-the-record capacity.
The sides, which at one point were headed towards possibly firing Pearl if he didn't cooperate before the season, have since come to an understanding for the short-term.
"I think there's a firm understanding and we're all on the same page about the expectations," Leath said. "The confusion has to do with timing, but we're clear on expectations about talking with us on the basketball program."
Leath did not want to address the timetable for when the meeting with Pearl would take place, but firmly believes the NCAA will be part of the process.
"At some point they will be here," Leath said. "Yes, they will be here."
Last week, the NCAA ruled sophomore center Austin Wiley ineligible for the 2017-18 season after Auburn "self-reported violations involving recruiting, extra benefits and agent-related activity." Auburn is still awaiting the final decision on Danjel Purifoy.
The federal complaint against Person, who was fired in October and has a status conference in the case scheduled in New York next month, alleges he received $91,500 in bribes over a 10-month span to use his influence over two unnamed Auburn players to steer them toward financial adviser Marty Blazer, a cooperating witness for the FBI.
According to the federal complaint, Person told Blazer that he gave $11,000 to the mother of "Player-1," believed to be Purifoy, and $7,500 to the mother of "Player-2," believed to be Wiley. Co-defendant Rashan Michel also claimed to give $5,000 to the mother of "Player-2."
Leath said there are "always concerns" about possible sanctions against the program stemming from the case, but would not elaborate on specifics.
New athletic director Allen Greene said Leath has been "transparent" about the situation with the basketball program, but that he personally has to learn more about the matter.
"I don't know a ton of information, but what little information I do know, I feel like president Leath is going to be a great partner to work with," Greene said. "I've learned to not necessarily believe the things I read and hear ... but I need to sit down and really get my hands dirty and understand what the situation is in its entirety, and then make some decisions based on that."
Leath said he'd prefer if the matter was being dealt with in the offseason, rather than creating a distraction to the players.
Support staffers Jordan VerHulst and Frankie Sullivan have been on paid administrative leave for over two months, a decision that came as a result of the internal investigation, but it's still unclear what either party did to warrant the disciplinary action.
"We're still in the middle of that investigation," Leath said. "Surely would be easier to sort that out if everybody would talk to me."
Greene did not want to discuss Pearl's future, as he won't officially start as athletic director until Mid-February, and there's still "a lot I have to get caught up to speed on."
Leath said any decision regarding Pearl's future would "ultimately" be made by Greene, but that he'd be involved as well.
"We always want to do what's right for Auburn and that will guide us," Leath said. "I've told my senior staff, when we make big decision we think about what's best for Auburn first, and that will guide everything to do with basketball and other programs. We'll work through this over the next few months."
James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.