Bruce Pearl offered an apology Thursday night to fans and Auburn University for the "unfortunate" but "self-inflicted" cloud hanging over the program on the eve of the 2017-18 season.

Pearl, making an appearance on "Tiger Talk" ahead of Auburn's season opener at Auburn Arena on Friday night against Norfolk State, briefly addressed the elephant in the room: the ongoing FBI investigation surrounding the program following former associate head coach Chuck Person's arrest on Sept. 26 and the subsequent decision to indefinitely sit star players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy amid concerns about their eligibility.

"It is an unbelievable process what you have to go through to recertify and reexamine your program, and we're looking at everything," Pearl said. "It's a full-blown investigation, and it's unfortunate, but you know what? It was self-inflicted. We brought it upon ourselves and we are battling every day to get through this and let the focus be on our basketball team.

"For me, I apologize. I'm sorry, because I came here to bring credibility and a competitive basketball program to Auburn, and unfortunately this has been just an awful distraction for the university and our fans, and I'm sorry about it."

Person, who was fired on Oct. 18, was one of 10 men, including four assistant coaches nationwide, arrested on Sept. 26 as part of an FBI investigation into the criminal influence of money in college basketball. Person was indicted this week on six federal charges and is alleged to have accepted $91,500 in bribes over a 10-month span to use his influence over two unnamed players, suspected to be Purifoy and Wiley, to steer them toward crooked financial adviser Marty Blazer, a federal cooperating witness.

According to the federal complaint filed against him, Person allegedly told Blazer that he gave $11,000 of that money to the mother of "Player-1," believed to be Purifoy, and another $7,500 to the mother of "Player-2," believed to be Wiley. Meanwhile, Person's co-defendant, Rashan Michel, allegedly gave another $5,000 to the mother of "Player-2."

Auburn has not been able to certify the eligibility of Purifoy or Wiley and announced last week it will sit them indefinitely until a determination can be made one way or the other. Pearl said Thursday that he receives daily reports on the status of the process with the two players, and that as of Thursday afternoon, neither one has been cleared to play, though they are allowed to practice with the team.

Complicating the issues surrounding the team further was an ESPN report Wednesday afternoon alleging Pearl has refused to cooperate with the university's internal investigation of the basketball program, which is being conducted by Birmingham-based law firm Lightfoot, Franklin and White. According to the report, Pearl's job could be in jeopardy if he does not cooperate with the investigation.

Pearl declined to comment on the matter Thursday, noting that it's an ongoing investigation and that they are "working through the process." He did, however, address the report with the team on Wednesday and told them to not worry about the outside noise and let the process run its course.

"I've tried to keep the kids as insulated from it as I possibly can," Pearl said on the radio. "They're human. They read the newspaper."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.