For the second time in a week, Auburn athletic director Allen Greene issued strong public support for Bruce Pearl, saying the intention is he'll "absolutely" be the coach next season unless something else were to arise from the FBI and NCAA investigations into Auburn's basketball program.

During an interview on WJOX on Wednesday, Greene said it is in Auburn's "best interest to stay the course" regarding the leadership of the program.

"I have not had a chance until I got here to really interact with coach Pearl and his staff and really to get an understanding a lay of the land," Greene said on The Roundtable Wednesday. "I felt that after being on campus for a few weeks and being around that team that I had a good enough chance to understand coach, look at his program and then just realize, you know what, we do have a great person here for us and we want to see that success continue.

"We want to do it the right way and it's unfortunate that the state of college basketball is where it is. We didn't get that way overnight. We certainly won't fix things overnight. But knowing the process of the FBI and NCAA investigation is - who knows how long it's going to be? But it's going to be lengthy. So, I think it's in our best interest to stay the course."

Asked if it's his intent and desire for Pearl to remain the coach, barring something changing during the course of the investigation, Greene responded, "absolutely."

Greene's remarks on Wednesday are even stronger than those he made during an in-house podcast released Friday, which he referenced during his radio appearance, during which he said Pearl has been "excellent" in the school's process of complying with the FBI's investigation into the program.

Pearl has been steadfast in his stance that he wants to remain at Auburn and believes he will.

"One of the things that's really important to the Auburn family is that we do things the right way," Greene said. "Bruce feels like he's done nothing wrong. He and I have talked about that and I don't have a reason to do anything other than what we've been doing and supporting him and his student-athletes."

The NCAA is reviewing Auburn's basketball program and reportedly over 30 others as a result of last fall's FBI investigation, which resulted in 10 arrests, including then-Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person.

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.