There was a hitch in Auburn coach Bruce Pearl’s voice when he talked to a reporter from ESPN after Saturday’s 71-63 loss to Tennessee. Pearl had returned home to Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, but his bench was on the wrong end of the court. Standing after game hearing the band play the Vols’ victory song, it was almost a little too much for UT’s beloved former coach.
“There’s a song being played right now that we’ve heard a few times,” Pearl said. “I’m proud of my team. They battled. They tried to play hard for me, they really did. I’m happy for (UT coach) Donnie (Tyndall) and it’s great to see Tennessee basketball continue to be strong.”
Pearl is the reason Tennessee basketball is even on the map. After a good run under Jerry Green from 1997-2001, Volunteers basketball all but disappeared from the national stage under Green’s replacement Buzz Peterson. After four seasons of ineptitude, Peterson was shown the door and Pearl was brought into replace him after a magical Sweet 16 run with Milwaukee.
Pearl instantly turned Tennessee into a winner, finishing with less than 20 wins in only one of his six seasons (and he still won 19 games in that one). Pearl’s teams never missed the NCAA tournament, made the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight once. It 2007 after beating No. 1-ranked Memphis 66-62 at Memphis, UT would spend the next two weeks at No. 1 themselves.
That same year, Bruce Pearl painted himself up shirtless to cheer on Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols. The two coaches, one a legend with eight national titles to her name, were close and when the UT men came back home, Summitt showed up dressed as a cheerleader.
The history Pearl brought back to Thompson-Boling was heavy and one Tyndall knew his team would have to deal with. Tyndall has plenty of reason to feel secure in his first year coaching the Vols. He has Tennessee 13-7 with a 5-3 SEC record and has beaten two Top 25 teams this season. But Saturday Tyndal had to beat Pearl and everybody, even Pearl, knew it.
“Here’s the deal: I don’t want any other team in the SEC to do well other than Auburn, and then Tennessee,” Pearl said. “I want Donnie to do well. …We helped create a culture of winning, and some (people) made a lot of the state we left the program in. The worst state we left it in was because they were on probation. That’s our fault.”
That probation, caused by Pearl lying during an NCAA recruitment violation, is what ended his tenure at the school.
Pearl had invited a recruit, Aaron Craft, to his home for a barbecue, something that was against the rules. Craft ended up at Ohio State. When busted, Pearl lied and paid the price. On the day the hammer came down from the NCAA, Pearl threw a barbecue for East Tennessee sports reporters to give his statement.
Pearl’s shadow loomed large on his replacement, Cuonzo Martin, who kept Tennessee right on track with a 19-15 season under sanctions and two straight 20-plus win seasons culminating in a Sweet 16 appearance of his own. But the constant comparisons and criticism from fans and media wore on Martin and he left for greener pastures last offseason, agreeing to take over the basketball program at California.
But Martin never had to face off against Pearl. His replacement did.
“Obviously, tonight was a big game in terms of Bruce Pearl returning,” Tyndall said. “I never talked about it with my team, though. I would like to say how much I respect him. Their team was picked eighth or ninth in the preseason SEC poll, but he has them playing like an upper-tier team in regards to toughness and how they are playing. Tonight was certainly a 40 minute battle and could have went the other way.”
Pearl received his cheers and shouts of “Bruuuuuce” when he took the court, but the biggest roar from the sold-out crowd were for Tyndall. And over the next 40 minutes he earned every one of them.
“The way I approach every game is as nervous as you could ever be, and I feel like it is all on the line every single game,” Tyndall said. “That is just how I am built. It was probably more important to our fans because for the return of coach Pearl. We just approached this game as our players and our team versus his players and his team.”
Pearl lingered on the court with fans after the game and made himself available for local media as long as they needed him. He was back in Knoxville. Back among friends and even though his team lost, it was an experience he wouldn’t trade for anything.
“It’s understanding that this will always be a part of me, but it’s in the history books,” Pearl said. “Most of that history is really, really good. Now I’m trying to make that history at Auburn and continue to represent the SEC as best I can.”
