Auburn will leave forward Danjel Purifoy and center Austin Wiley on the sideline indefinitely as the school sorts through what it calls "potential eligibility issues."
The Tigers hosted Barry University for an exhibition game Thursday night, a game Barry won 100-95. The regular season begins Nov. 10 against Norfolk State.
"To avoid any potential eligibility issues, Auburn Athletics has decided to hold men's basketball players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out indefinitely," the school announced in a statement. "Because this is related to an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further at this time."
The move to sit the two sophomores is believed to be related to the FBI investigation into college basketball corruption that included the arrest of Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person.
Person, who was suspended without pay by the university, is facing six federal charges, including solicitation of bribes and bribery conspiracy.
According to the federal complaint, Person is alleged to have received roughly $91,500 from a cooperating FBI witness in order to influence student-athletes at Auburn to hire the witness in a financial advisory role. The complaint involved two unidentified Auburn players, whom the school would not name.
Wiley, a 6-foot-11 from Hoover, Alabama, averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 23 games last season. He has not been practicing during the preseason while nursing a leg injury.
Purifoy, who is from Centreville, Alabama, played in 29 games last season, averaging 11.5 points and 4.7 rebounds.