AUBURN | Austin Wiley could suit up in an Auburn uniform for the first time in more than 20 months.

The 6-foot-11 center, who sat out last season due to a suspension and missed this season’s opener with a sprained left foot, returned to practice on Wednesday.

“Austin went through practice yesterday and looked pretty good,” Pearl said. “It was his first contact practice, so there’s a chance that he’ll be available tomorrow. Whereas on Tuesday, we knew going in he wouldn’t. But that decision still has not been made.”

Pearl said they’ll continue to evaluate his foot and how it responds over the next two days before making a final decision.

“Just see how he does the next couple of days with a little bit more pounding and see if all of his symptoms are gone,” he said.

Wiley hasn’t played since the Tigers’ loss to Missouri in the SEC Tournament on March 8, 2017, the final game of his freshman season. He was able to practice last season but couldn’t play due to his role in an FBI probe and subsequent indictment of former assistant coach Chuck Person.

He averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 23 games after graduating high school early and enrolling at Auburn in December of 2016. He was also a standout for the USA U19 team at the FIBA Wold Cup in the summer of 2017.

“I think his return would be big, but not for this game,” Pearl said. “He could be a factor in there offensively against their zone, absolutely. How much would you expect from him? If I had him for a couple of weeks and we had him out there, he could be a big factor in the middle of that zone on the offensive end, but with such short time with him getting ready — but I won’t play him if he’s not ready to play, so I don’t think it will be a restricted-minutes thing. If he’s ready, he’s ready. If he’s not, he’s not.”

No. 11 Auburn, which opened the season Tuesday with a 101-58 win over South Alabama, hosts No. 25 Washington Friday night. Tip-off at Auburn Arena is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.