Bruce Pearl:SEC Coach of the Year

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Bruce Pearl wins SEC Coach of the Year

ByNATHAN KING 11 minutes ago

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For the first time in his eight seasons at Auburn, Bruce Pearl has been honored as the SEC's top coach.

As part of the official 2021-22 SEC basketball awards, announced Tuesday morning, Pearl won SEC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and the first at Auburn.

The Tigers dominated the conference accolades, with Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler also earning Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

Picked to finish fifth in the league in the preseason, Auburn achieved its highest AP poll ranking ever, sitting at No. 1 for three weeks. The Tigers led the SEC wire-to-wire, as they won their first 10 games in the conference and finished with a 15-3 record in league play. Pearl's team set the Auburn record for most SEC wins (15) and most total wins (27) in a regular season, besting the 1998-99 team.

Auburn finished four spots above its preseason projection in the final league standings — the biggest rise of any team in the conference this season.

"It's all about our players," Pearl said after winning the conference outright. "To be 15-3 in this league says they came to play every night. That is virtually impossible to do when you're dealing with 18- and 19-year-old kids. Our guys came to play every single night."

Pearl has now been named coach of the year in the respective conference at least once at each of the four head-coaching stops in his career.

Last week, Auburn won its last two games of the regular season to clinch a share of the SEC regular-season title, then an outright championship. It's the third SEC championship for Pearl in the past five seasons, and the second regular-season crown.

Before Pearl's arrival, Auburn had three SEC championships, period.

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The Tigers will be either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday, depending on results in conference tournaments for them and a couple other high seeds, and will likely play the first weekend of games in Greenville, South Carolina.

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Bruce Pearl wins SEC Coach of the Year after third championship in five seasons

Justin Hokanson•40 minutes

Bruce Pearl (Photo by AU Athletics)

AUBURN – For the third time in his career, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has been named SEC Coach of the Year.

Pearl led Auburn to 15 conference wins – a program record – and a first-place finish in the SEC regular season. It’s the Tigers’ second regular season championship in the last five seasons. Auburn also has a SEC Tournament championship, giving Pearl three titles in the last five seasons.

The Tigers led the SEC standings from start to finish this season. Pearl’s team started 10-0 in conference play and was never tied or trailing in the standings all season. Auburn finished the season 27-4 overall, the best record in the SEC.

Previously, Pearl won SEC Coach of the Year in 2005-06 and 2007-08 while at Tennessee. Both of those seasons resulted in regular season championships for Pearl.

The Tigers finished the regular season inside the top 25 nationally of both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies, including top-10 finishes in effective field-goal-percentage defense and two-point defense. Last season, Auburn ranked well outside the top 100 in all major defensive categories.

RELATED: Outright champions, as Pearl and Auburn continue to make history

Auburn finished the regular season a perfect 16-0 inside Neville Arena – the first unbeaten record in a season inside the former Auburn Arena. Excluding the COVID year that limited fans inside the venue, Auburn has only lost four home games in the last four seasons, and at the same time won three SEC championships.

Remarkable rebuilding job

After last season’s 13-14 season, Pearl rebuilt this Auburn roster in a big way. Transfers Wendell Green Jr. (Eastern Kentucky), K.D. Johnson (Georgia), Zep Jasper and Walker Kessler (North Carolina) all chose to come to Auburn, while freshman phenom Smith had already signed and was on his way. Green Jr., Johnson and Kessler are all sophomores, joining Smith, and then Jasper was arriving after three seasons at College of Charleston.

Pearl inserted Smith, Jasper, Johnson and Kessler into the starting lineup, with Green Jr. coming off the bench. The five newcomers were arguably Auburn’s five best players all season. But, even as impressive as bringing in talent and molding it to the system and culture, was the job Pearl did with the rest of the roster. Jaylin Williams, Devan Cambridge, Allen Flanigan, Dylan Cardwell andChris Moore were all players that played significant minutes one season ago. Yet, with the influx of talent, every one of those players became important role players off the bench. The depth gave Auburn a solid 10-man rotation that Pearl used to the Tigers’ benefit all season.

Under Bruce Pearl’s leadership, freshman Jabari Smith won SEC Freshman of the Week on six difference occasions, and was named Sporting News All-American. It’s the first All-American honor for an Auburn player since Chris Porter and Doc Robinson earned All-American honors in 1999. Smith will be Pearl’s highest-drafted player ever when the NBA Draft comes around.

[Randman5000 4,228]

Well deserved!!! Wire to Wire lead by Auburn with a rebuild with a bunch of transfers. Let's finish this year right

[AUBwins 10,075]

Clearly the decision to wear a polo instead of the full suit was the difference maker for Pearl 😉

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

Probably wins it in 2018 if Anfernee doesn’t get hurt, I’d contend he should’ve won it anyway, but glad he finally got one 

[Viper 3,132]

Get used to it. 

[gravejd 3,270]

Can’t believe they finally gave him the award. Should be about number 3 COY award but it’s all good. Auburn fans know we got the best coach in the league!

[fredst 9,064]

5 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Probably wins it in 2018 if Anfernee doesn’t get hurt, I’d contend he should’ve won it anyway, but glad he finally got one 

Agree. Shameful this is his first honestly. Overdue….

[Tigger1985 806]

Great for him and us. Thought we should have had it before but oh well. I think basketball recognition has played over into other sports as well. Just hopes it starts us something in football also

[Mike2686 33]

This is amazing. Well earned by him, the staff, and the team. 

[Rednilla 5,391]

It's about danged time he got recognition for altering the trajectory of Auburn's basketball program...he's the best thing to happen to Auburn athletics in a long, long time. He's turned us into a giant on the hardwood, and with what is essentially a lifetime contract now, we can look forward to the future with great optimism!

[AUFightingSoldiers 685]

On 3/8/2022 at 1:03 PM, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Probably wins it in 2018 if Anfernee doesn’t get hurt, I’d contend he should’ve won it anyway, but glad he finally got one 

Honestly, no reason Rick Barnes should have won that over BP. We had 2 major contributors suspended all season, a Frankenstein's monster of commits and transfer, an undersized front court, and we were predicted to go 4-14. It reminded me of that Tennessee tennis player winning SEC Male Athlete of the Year over Cam in 2010. 

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

Agreed!   It’s long overdue.   But glad to see him get the recognition he deserves!   They should rename it “the Bruce Pearl trophy”!