Jones could reunite with Wiley, join No. 1 class

AUBURN | Herb Jones and Austin Wiley are former AAU teammates, and the two basketball standouts could reunite on the hardwood in college.

Jones, from Hale County High School, and Wiley, who recently transferred from Spain Park to Conrad Academy in Orlando, talked about the opportunity over the weekend while on official visits to Auburn.

“We played on the same team from fifth grade to seventh or eighth grade,” Jones said. “We have known each other for a long time, so the visit was like a reunion for us.”

Wiley didn’t need to be recruited during his visit. The five-star center made his decision a year ago to follow in the footsteps of his parents, Vickie Orr and Aubrey Wiley, both former players at Auburn.

The younger Wiley instead helped recruit Jones to Auburn.

“Me and Austin were around each other so much during the visit that Austin was like the assistant,” Jones said. “T.J. Dunans was my host and I also spent a lot of time with Horace Spencer, but Austin was there with me almost the entire time.”

Jones, who is ranked the No. 90 player in the 2017 class, was making his fifth visit to Auburn. He and Wiley were two of four official visitors in Auburn over the weekend. The two other official visitors were Rivals150 guard Davion Mitchell and Rivals150 forward Chuma Okeke, both of whom also are committed to Auburn and - along with Wiley -make up the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the country.