One-on-one with Bruce Pearl

[aubiefifty 16,740]

247sports.com

 

'I've never loved a place more: One-on-one with Bruce Pearl

Nathan King

4-5 minutes

---

 

 

Bruce Pearl doesn’t feel like it’s been eight seasons.

The memories of wandering lecture halls with KT Harrell in 2014, begging students to come to games and ensuring that improvement is on the horizon for a downtrodden Auburn program, are still vivid as Pearl gears up for Year 9 on the Plains.

“Time flies when you’re having fun — and we’ve had a lot of fun,” Pearl said in a sit-down with Auburn Undercover.

There’s also been a lot of wins — 166 of them, to be exact, the fourth-most in program history. Those have included two SEC regular-season championships, an SEC tournament title, three NCAA tournament appearances in the past five seasons and the program’s first-ever Final Four berth.

Pearl’s team last year yielded the best regular season in program history, with Auburn grabbing an outright SEC crown, the first No. 1 ranking in the polls in program history and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Things wrapped up with the Tigers’ two All-American big men, Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler, being picked No. 3 and No. 22 overall, respectively, in the NBA draft, giving Auburn multiple first-round picks in the same year for the first time ever.

During those three weeks Auburn spent atop the polls, now-former athletic director Allen Greene and Auburn’s administration locked Pearl down with a “lifetime” contract: an eight-year extension worth $50.2 million.

Pearl told Auburn Undercover “it would have been easy” to jump at other jobs. At the time, Pearl had been linked in particular to the opening at Louisville.

"I knew there would be opportunities,” Pearl said. “My buyout had gone way, way down. If I had waited till the end of last year, it would have been easy to go. There were a number of jobs out there I could have gotten. I just wasn't interested. I worked too hard to build this program. I've never been happier; I've never loved a place more; I've never loved where I live more; I've never loved the fanbase more. It's just never been a better fit."

Instead, after a recent run that rivals any in the program’s history, and could be the best Auburn’s ever seen, he became the second highest-paid coach in the SEC, behind John Calipari.

“My teams have always finished higher than I’ve been paid,” Pearl said. “That’s going to be hard now to do every year, but that’s the goal.”

So what do the Tigers have in store for Year 9 under Pearl? Gone are two of the most talented players to ever wear the orange and blue, but Pearl and his staff reloaded at each of their positions with Morehead State transfer Johni Broome, one of the best bigs on the mid-major level last season, and five-star freshman Yohan Traore, the fourth highest-rated prospect to ever sign with the program.

Last year’s team gelled so quickly in the offseason, despite the roster having turned over nearly half its players. This year, Pearl boasts the returning experience and leadership of names like Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson, Zep Jasper, Jaylin Williams, Allen Flanigan and Dylan Cardwell, as the team brings back eight members of its primary, 11-man rotation from last season, in addition to the highly anticipated newcomers.

20COMMENTS

“I just want to see progress,” Pearl said. “I expect all my players to be better than they were a year ago, offensively and defensively. That’s all I’m looking for. … I’m very proud of the fact we’re one of the few programs that brought that many guys back. Why? It’s not me. It’s not my staff. It’s Auburn. It’s the Auburn family. It’s the way our student-athletes are treated.”