With 15 players under scholarship for the 2011-12 season, Auburn needed to drop at least two players to get under the NCAA’s 13-scholarship limit.

One of them just so happened to be the Tigers’ leading scorer from last season.

Earnest Ross, a 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward, is no longer with the men’s basketball team, along with 6-9 junior forward Ty Armstrong.

Ross played in all 31 of the Tigers’ games last year—starting 27—and posted team-high averages in points (13.1) and rebounds (6.6) per game.

He notched six double-doubles on the year, scoring a career-high 30 points against Georgia on Feb. 5 and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with 20 points against Alabama on Jan. 22.

Armstrong, who underwent offseason knee surgery after tearing his ACL last summer, returned for 12 games in a backup role in the post, averaging 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.3 minutes a game.

“I have mutually agreed with Ty Armstrong and Earnest Ross for them to go in a different direction both academically and athletically. We wish them the best in their future,“ Auburn coach Tony Barbee said.

Auburn signed three in its Class of 2011—forwards Willy Kouassi and Bernard Morena and guard Cedrick McAfee—to add on to its 12 scholarship players from last year, necessitating the departure of at least two scholarship players before next season to make the NCAA limit of 13 scholarships.

“Things happen. You’ve got players that become unhappy with coaches and coaches who become unhappy with players,” Barbee said last week. “So there is attrition at programs all across the country. Not just ours.”

With the departure of Ross and Armstrong, Auburn is currently at the scholarship limit for next season.

Ross, Armstrong and Andre Malone have all left the program since Barbee took over, making center Rob Chubb the only freshman left from former coach Jeff Lebo’s final full recruiting class in 2009.