Bruce Pearl: The journey from Rocky Top to The Plain

[jbcarol]

Joel A. Erickson @JoelAEricksonAU  ·  22 minutes ago
Bruce Pearl taking pictures with fans as they leave Auburn Arena

https://instagram.com/p/z8dwEhOHqd/

[jbcarol]

Joel A. Erickson @JoelAEricksonAU  ·  13 minutes ago
Disappointed by finish, Bruce Pearl thanks Auburn fans, turns eyes to SEC Tournament http://s.al.com/QgikWsX

In the aftermath of Auburn's loss to Georgia, Bruce Pearl was an easy man to find.

After shaking the Bulldogs' hands, Pearl and his team left the court to a standing ovation from Auburn fans, and then the Tigers' first-year coach made a beeline for the doors.

Pearl spent the next 15 minutes to half an hour shaking hands, taking pictures and thanking a fan base that gave Auburn its fourth sellout of the season on Saturday despite a disappointing 12-19 regular-season finish.

"Our fans have been seeing this all year long. ... They were hopeful for more, and yet I do think they are appreciating the way we are competing," Pearl said. "Last year, in the last home game, there might have been 2,000 people here for Tennessee. Today there were 9,000."

From what Pearl can tell, those fans remain optimistic about his chances to turn the program around despite a first season that finished with seven straight home losses and a 13th-place finish in the SEC.

"People left, and they said good luck in Nashville," Pearl said. "With the exception of Kentucky, there is not a team there that we can't beat. We have to go up there and try to shock the world."

Auburn (12-19, 4-14 SEC) will play 12th-seeded Mississippi State at 6 p.m. in a game televised by the SEC Network.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello @bmarcello  ·  8 hours ago
Pearl says MSU not a great matchup: "They were able to separate themselves from us the first time and pretty significantly."

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  30 minutes ago

Hope remains high for Auburn basketball as Tigers get ready to wrap Bruce Pearl's first season http://s.al.com/AUywJbW

Auburn enters its SEC Tournament game against Mississippi State on Wednesday night with two fewer wins overall and two fewer wins in the SEC than the same point of the season last year.

"We used the words all year long that we were trying to avoid disaster this year," Pearl said before Auburn's season finale last Friday. "Whether or not it was a disaster is up to your opinion. We certainly didn't win as many games as we would of liked to, but it could have been a lot worse."

Pearl inherited a roster last March that brought back just two players, KT Harrell and Tahj Shamsid-Deen, who could really be considered key building blocks going forward. At the time, neither Jordon Granger or Malcolm Canada had been much more than a little-used backup. 

Finding players to fill the roster was no simple task, either. Pearl was still serving the final months of a three-year show cause from the NCAA, and to top that off, the hot and heavy portion of basketball recruiting had already long been finished...

"Back in April, when we had what we had then, before KC., Cinmeon (Bowers), Antoine, and Kareem, in a lot of ways we scrambled and worked to at least be competitive," Pearl said.

"It is tough to be ending the season without a lot of success," Pearl said. "The support has been great, both in the stands and privately. I have not beat up these kids because it is not all their fault. The Auburn family hasn't beaten us up because they recognize our effort, and they see the hope."

[jbcarol]

randon Marcello @bmarcello  ·  3 minutes ago
And it only takes Bruce Pearl a few minutes to jump on SEC Network set and get mic'd up to discuss win, sell his program.

[jbcarol]

Brent Zwerneman @BrentZwerneman  ·  14 hours ago

Auburn's Bruce Pearl on rematch w/ Aggies on Thursday: "They didn't just beat us, they dominated us. By 10 at home and 25 on the road."

[jbcarol]

Tom Green @AUBlog  ·  43 minutes ago

Twice as many outfits as I packed. RT @jzenor: Pearl says he brought 4 suits to Nashville. He's a fashion horse and an optimist.

[jbcarol]

Scott Scroggins @ScrogginsNoggin  ·  16 hours ago
KT Harrell's 635 points this season are the sixth-most ever scored in a season in #Auburn history. #WarEagle

[jbcarol]

Wesley Sinor @WesleySinor  ·  15 minutes ago
Auburn's lineup just a tad undersized against Kentucky

[jbcarol]

Wesley Sinor @WesleySinor  ·  17 hours ago
#Auburn's Jordon Granger discusses the scuffle that got him ejected against LSU: http://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/index.ssf/2015/03/jordon_granger_ejected_from_au.html#incart_story_package ...

[jbcarol]

Tom Green @AUBlog  ·  7 minutes ago
Cinmeon Bowers has been suspended for today's game. Pearl was made aware of a potential rules violation following yesterday's game.

[jbcarol]

Wesley Sinor @WesleySinor  ·  15 minutes ago
Auburn's lineup just a tad undersized against Kentucky

Had to sub in a guard for Bowers.

Tom Green @AUBlog  ·  14 minutes ago
Devin Waddell apparently getting the start in Bowers' place.

[dhornjr1]

I wish Bruce Pearl would fall down and break his mouth.

[jbcarol]

Kyle Tucker @KyleTucker_CJ  ·  15 minutes ago
So the Cats are 6 inches taller at PG, 5 inches at SG, 6 inches at SF, 8 inches at PF and 7 inches at center...

Replacement starter Devin Waddell has twice as many fouls (28) this season as points (14)...

[jbcarol]

Wesley Sinor @WesleySinor  ·  2 hours ago
'The foundation is laid,' says Bruce Pearl after 1st season at Auburn | http://ow.ly/Kl4uy

[jbcarol]

More than 150 Auburn fans welcomed the Tigers back home following a four-day run at the SEC Tournament.

The Tigers (15-20) won three games in as many days to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals, where No. 1 Kentucky (33-0) knocked off the short-handed Tigers 91-67 to keep its perfect record intact.

Auburn traveled back from Nashville to Columbus, Georgia in a plane and then rode back home to Auburn in a charter bus.

Coach Bruce Pearl was not with the team when they arrived back home. He stayed in Nashville to serve as an analyst for ESPN...

[AWHAWG]

Why do we have to listen to an active coach in the same conference break down our team and mugg for recruits during what should be our prime time! His team lost! Go home Pearl and shut up. This should not be allowed. It is an unfare recruiting advantage.

[jfred59]

Cheater just like Cal

[Swinesong1]

ESPN is looking out for one of their own.  Vitale blatantly said it was a chance to recruit. 

[ThisTeetsTaken]

Why do we have to listen to an active coach in the same conference break down our team and mugg for recruits during what should be our prime time! His team lost! Go home Pearl and shut up. This should not be allowed. It is an unfare recruiting advantage.

What did he say?

[AWHAWG]

What did he say?

the fact that he was on during our game yesterday taking about recruiting, and then today breaking down another coach when he should have his mugg hi front of a TV like everone else. It's bad enough listening to Vitale drool over Kentucky's point are during live play as our freshman point guard scores in the paint just shameful.

[Jamie Jones]

They are killing college basketball with the Kentucky love fest. Every highly ranked recruit is going to want to go to Lexington because Calipari has made it know that he doesn't care about academics, as long as you can play and win basketball games. It's about how much money he can make off of those players for a couple of seasons. It is shameful, but it's the world we live in.

[SamBuckhart]

Why do we have to listen to an active coach in the same conference break down our team and mugg for recruits during what should be our prime time! His team lost! Go home Pearl and shut up. This should not be allowed. It is an unfare recruiting advantage.

The water boys a cheetah.

[Tusks]

remember KY players don'w have to go to class.  They've set up an online class room area so they just dial in and watch class. How do you even know who's watching the lecture and who's taking the test?

how about if all 105 members of the razorback football team didn't go to class but set up their own online warehouse.

[Danny J]

remember KY players don'w have to go to class.  They've set up an online class room area so they just dial in and watch class. How do you even know who's watching the lecture and who's taking the test?

how about if all 105 members of the razorback football team didn't go to class but set up their own online warehouse.

I was wondering the same thing.....we all know those prima-donna's are too good to go to class like the peasant students. It is a mockery of college athletics. The NBA needs to institute something like the NFL has or allow them to come out right after HS.

[Tusks]

It's a fricken SEC/NCAA thing......how about KIDS go to class.  It's not that hard.  Give them all a vespa but go to class.

[code red]

Total BS that's what but....he needs all the help he can get...Auburn is a bad intermural team this year.

[huck]

remember KY players don'w have to go to class.  They've set up an online class room area so they just dial in and watch class. How do you even know who's watching the lecture and who's taking the test?

how about if all 105 members of the razorback football team didn't go to class but set up their own online warehouse.

LOL, why go to class, the grade is all ready paid for.   

Seriously, do you all really believe that our players don't go to regular classes.  I have thought for a long time now the you were just whining and making up everything you can think of.... but now I'm not so sure.

For you that don't know, Cal has never been caught cheating, our players go to regular classes - and attend or Cal will not let them play(they get reports every day), we have only had one that quit going to class after he declared for the draft (Daniel Orton).

Several of the succede-and-proceed players, come back to take summer classes.  The new recruits can play summer pickup games with $100 million dollar < 25 year old basketball players.  UK and players are under a microscope 24/7/12.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

LOL, why go to class, the grade is all ready paid for.   

Seriously, do you all really believe that our players don't go to regular classes.  I have thought for a long time now the you were just whining and making up everything you can think of.... but now I'm not so sure.

For you that don't know, Cal has never been caught cheating, our players go to regular classes - and attend or Cal will not let them play(they get reports every day), we have only had one that quit going to class after he declared for the draft (Daniel Orton).

Several of the succede-and-proceed players, come back to take summer classes.  The new recruits can play summer pickup games with $100 million dollar < 25 year old basketball players.  UK and players are under a microscope 24/7/12.

Razorback fans here want excuses bcuz we have 2 star recruits coming off our bench and they are envy that Kentucky has 5 star McDonald's All Americans on Kentucky's bench. I'm a little jealous of it myself but I don't cry and moan about it like most on Hogville do.

[870hogfan]

Razorback fans here want excuses bcuz we have 2 star recruits coming off our bench and they are envy that Kentucky has 5 star McDonald's All Americans on Kentucky's bench. I'm a little jealous of it myself but I don't cry and moan about it like most on Hogville do.

Way to bash our current players.

[-Blu]

Why do we have to listen to an active coach in the same conference break down our team and mugg for recruits during what should be our prime time! His team lost! Go home Pearl and shut up. This should not be allowed. It is an unfare recruiting advantage.

You read my mind.  Does he still work for ESPN as well or something he was all over our game, before and after.  He even had the nerve to try to try to tell CMA what strategy he needed to beat Kentucky.  He should have gave his own team a strategy to beat us when we blew them out in their own gym. 

You beat Miss State, TAM without their best player, and LSU with a hurt Mickey, and suddenly you got all the answers....

[Rawker]

Way to bash our current players.

Yeah no doubt....why don't you make like a tree....and get outta here.

[-Blu]

LOL, why go to class, the grade is all ready paid for.   

Seriously, do you all really believe that our players don't go to regular classes.  I have thought for a long time now the you were just whining and making up everything you can think of.... but now I'm not so sure.

For you that don't know, Cal has never been caught cheating, our players go to regular classes - and attend or Cal will not let them play(they get reports every day), we have only had one that quit going to class after he declared for the draft (Daniel Orton).

Several of the succede-and-proceed players, come back to take summer classes.  The new recruits can play summer pickup games with $100 million dollar < 25 year old basketball players.  UK and players are under a microscope 24/7/12.

Everybody knows Cal is not as squeaky clean as KY fans try to make him out, you can try to sugarcoat it anyway you want.  I don't know about their classes or if they do or don't go, but where there's Cal there's shady stuff going on, and that's a documented fact.  It's not a coincidence you get 2 final 4's vacated at 2 locations after you leave.  What are the chances of that?  Has that every happened to anybody else?  That's like you being in 2 different banks at 2 different times while they are being robbed and your friends with the different set of bank robbers that got caught, and say you had nothing to do with it.  You may have a good alibi and technically get away with it, but doesn't mean everybody is going to buy your completely innocent. 

[Nipsey Mussle]

Anyone else remember Dino Gaudio's major crush on Pearl when we played them in Auburn this year? Never liked Gaudio as an announcer anyway, but wow that was hard to stomach.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

Way to bash our current players.

Never mentioned any player by name. I'm saying the recruiting isn't up to par amongst the elite teams in the NCAA. We have one McDonald's All American. We need more blue chip recruits. Its not bashing it's the truth. Star players win championships. And you must recruit stars and not system guys.

[AWHAWG]

Razorback fans here want excuses bcuz we have 2 star recruits coming off our bench and they are envy that Kentucky has 5 star McDonald's All Americans on Kentucky's bench. I'm a little jealous of it myself but I don't cry and moan about it like most on Hogville do.

I accept and am proud of the students we have. I cannot stand watching our game with the face of Pearl using our PT hawking for recruits for his team.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

I accept and am proud of the students we have. I cannot stand watching our game with the face of Pearl using our PT hawking for recruits for his team.

As sad as it is. Recruiting is extremely important and you would do the same thing if you were in Bruce Pearl's shoes

[AWHAWG]

As sad as it is. Recruiting is extremely important and you would do the same thing if you were in Bruce Pearl's shoes

i just saying that it should not be allowed period. Regardless.

[huck]

Everybody knows Cal is not as squeaky clean as KY fans try to make him out, you can try to sugarcoat it anyway you want.  I don't know about their classes or if they do or don't go, but where there's Cal there's shady stuff going on, and that's a documented fact.  It's not a coincidence you get 2 final 4's vacated at 2 locations after you leave.  What are the chances of that?  Has that every happened to anybody else?  That's like you being in 2 different banks at 2 different times while they are being robbed and your friends with the different set of bank robbers that got caught, and say you had nothing to do with it.  You may have a good alibi and technically get away with it, but doesn't mean everybody is going to buy your completely innocent.

Tell me all about it, don't worry about the sugar - just spit it out.  Since everybody knows... shouldn't be a problem for you. 

Now, I know about the two times: one, a player took things from an agent (what was it? money, jewelry, girls/favors.  I dont believe that Cal would have instigated him getting things that all could see)

and the second; the NCAA clearing house decided, after he had been approved by them, accepted into school, went to class .... that his entrance exam may be wrong (they are not sure and had no prof) ... then they come out with, even though you made the grades - your entrance exam, taken before separate from this school, (that helps determine if you are smart enough to pass classes) does not appear to be correct .... we take it away, implying that he was not smart enough to go to school and pass classes.

So give me the 411 on some of the shady things.  You might want to help me out a little with the bank robbery stuff, I couldn't tie that in.  I'm like most everyone else in the US, dumb, compared to the smart ones. 

[WarPig88]

Tell me all about it, don't worry about the sugar - just spit it out.  Since everybody knows... shouldn't be a problem for you. 

Now, I know about the two times: one, a player took things from an agent (what was it? money, jewelry, girls/favors.  I dont believe that Cal would have instigated him getting things that all could see)

and the second; the NCAA clearing house decided, after he had been approved by them, accepted into school, went to class .... that his entrance exam may be wrong (they are not sure and had no prof) ... then they come out with, even though you made the grades - your entrance exam, taken before separate from this school, (that helps determine if you are smart enough to pass classes) does not appear to be correct .... we take it away, implying that he was not smart enough to go to school and pass classes.

So give me the 411 on some of the shady things.  You might want to help me out a little with the bank robbery stuff, I couldn't tie that in.  I'm like most everyone else in the US, dumb, compared to the smart ones.

You are naive. Team managers were on record saying that Cal and the rest of the UMASS coaching staff were fully aware of the relationship between their player and the agent. The agent would literally pick the player up from practice. Cal continued to use the player with full knowledge that he was likely ineligible.

Coaches are also aware of recruit eligibility issues. Cal looked the other way on Rose even though it wasn't likely that he would make his test score.

You probably still believe Sean Sutton didn't help Eric Manuel cheat on his ACT and that Eddie had no idea that recruits were being given money.

LOL!

[Westcoasthog]

    I agree with Vitale, Pearl had a chance to recruit.  Why was he allowed on
during the Arkansas - Kentucky SEC Championship Final?

[pigture perfect]

remember KY players don'w have to go to class.  They've set up an online class room area so they just dial in and watch class. How do you even know who's watching the lecture and who's taking the test?

how about if all 105 members of the razorback football team didn't go to class but set up their own online warehouse.

rename them the University of PHEONIX at Lexington.

[MountieDawg]

i just saying that it should not be allowed period. Regardless.

Every year in the NCAAT once prominent coaches lose they put them on TV for analysis. Brett Bielema was on TV this past year doing the same thing in football. But it's far more beneficial for a coach to be in the Final Four than on TV talking about it.

[Kevin]

If the media likes you, you get perks. 
Didn't cbb get to go to cbs one of the off weeks, and talk about the sec game. I think at the time we still had 0 wins in the league

[popcornhog]

They are killing college basketball with the Kentucky love fest. Every highly ranked recruit is going to want to go to Lexington because Calipari has made it know that he doesn't care about academics, as long as you can play and win basketball games. It's about how much money he can make off of those players for a couple of seasons. It is shameful, but it's the world we live in.

Calipari has made it known that he doesn't care about academics? What did he say? As of last year Kentucky had like a 950 APR since Calipari took over. He even had a perfect 1,000 a couple of years ago.

[popcornhog]

Razorback fans here want excuses bcuz we have 2 star recruits coming off our bench and they are envy that Kentucky has 5 star McDonald's All Americans on Kentucky's bench. I'm a little jealous of it myself but I don't cry and moan about it like most on Hogville do.

I agree 100%. I hate that our fan base is so whiney about UK. It makes us look pathetic.

[Hog Fan from Camden]

Razorback fans here want excuses bcuz we have 2 star recruits coming off our bench and they are envy that Kentucky has 5 star McDonald's All Americans on Kentucky's bench. I'm a little jealous of it myself but I don't cry and moan about it like most on Hogville do.

Says the troll with an over 2500 smite count!

[AWHAWG]

Says the troll with an over 2500 smite count!

Again-Why do we have to listen to an active coach in the same conference break down our team and mugg for recruits during what should be our prime time! His team lost! Go home Pearl and shut up. This should not be allowed. It is an unfair recruiting advantage.
Networks should not be allow to do this and just like coaches cannot talk about recruits publicly, they should not be allowed this type of gratuitous gift from networks.

[k.c.hawg]

What is worse about Pearl is the guy just came to Auburn with a show cause from the NCAA. He was not allowed to recruit his first off season at Auburn because of illegal contact with recruits at Tennessee and then lying to the NCAA. But it's almost like the NCAA gives him a big kiss and allows him to insert himself into the biggest SEC basketball show of the year. If he wanted to have his mug plastered all over the TV during the SEC Championship he should have had to win his way there.

[-Blu]

Tell me all about it, don't worry about the sugar - just spit it out.  Since everybody knows... shouldn't be a problem for you. 

Now, I know about the two times: one, a player took things from an agent (what was it? money, jewelry, girls/favors.  I dont believe that Cal would have instigated him getting things that all could see)

and the second; the NCAA clearing house decided, after he had been approved by them, accepted into school, went to class .... that his entrance exam may be wrong (they are not sure and had no prof) ... then they come out with, even though you made the grades - your entrance exam, taken before separate from this school, (that helps determine if you are smart enough to pass classes) does not appear to be correct .... we take it away, implying that he was not smart enough to go to school and pass classes.

So give me the 411 on some of the shady things.  You might want to help me out a little with the bank robbery stuff, I couldn't tie that in.  I'm like most everyone else in the US, dumb, compared to the smart ones.

Warpig88  broke it down pretty well, you can view his response.  And as far as the bank robbery comparison it was just my way to throw some humor in there, to basically say just because you have an "alibi" doesn't mean your innocent. 

And you KY guys are hilarious, y'all act like vacating 2 final fours at 2 different locations is normal.  And several coaches have that on their record.  Only Cal does.  If that happens that either means 1. Your a cheater or 2. Your completely naive and have no idea what's going on with your players.  And Cal doesn't strike me as a guy that likes to be left out of the loop.