volattic
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KNOXVILLE Unless there's a late snag, Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Bruce Pearl will be the latest coach to take his stab at resurrecting the Tennessee men's basketball program.
Pearl and his wife, Kim, will be on campus in the next day or two, and Tennessee hopes to finalize a deal to make him the Vols' next coach, two people familiar with the situation told The Tennessean tonight.
Pearl, who guided Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16 this season, was in Knoxville yesterday and met with UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton and UT President John Petersen. Pearl also met with Hamilton and UT Associate Athletics Director John Currie on Friday in Chicago.
Two other finalists for the job, Creighton's Dana Altman and Alabama-Birmingham's Mike Anderson, withdrew their names from consideration yesterday when it became apparent that Pearl was the Vols' top choice.
Charlotte's Bobby Lutz is a fourth candidate to have interviewed for the job and remains a possibility should something fall through with Pearl.
Pearl taped his final Wisconsin-Milwaukee coaches show tonight and reiterated his interest in the Tennessee job. He told several people that he had yet to be offered the job, but two people familiar with UT's search said that was only a formality.
Hamilton did not return phone messages tonight, as has been his policy throughout the search. Also, UT director of public relations Tiffany Carpenter did not return phone messages.
Pearl was 86-38 in four seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and gained national notoriety after his Panthers upset Alabama and Boston College earlier this month to reach the Sweet 16.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a No. 12 seed, was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament Thursday in a 77-63 loss to No. 1-ranked Illinois.
One of Pearl's biggest proponents was former Tennessee All-American Ernie Grunfeld, now the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards. Grunfeld endorsed Pearl to Hamilton at the outset of the Vols' coaching search.
Grunfeld and Pearl got to know each other when Grunfeld was in Milwaukee as the Bucks' general manager.
Pearl would become the Vols' sixth head coach in the last 16 years. Buzz Peterson was fired on March 13 after going 61-59 in four seasons.
Peterson's total compensation was in the $850,000 range, and Hamilton said he was prepared to pay as much as $1.5 million for the ''right'' coach.
Either way, it will be a sizeable raise for Pearl, who signed a five-year deal at UWM last October that will escalate to more than $300,000 annually by the end of the contract.
Before coming to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pearl was at Southern Indiana for nine seasons and won a Division II national championship there in 1995. He was an assistant under Dr. Tom Davis at both Iowa and Stanford before getting his first head coaching job at Southern Indiana.
Pearl and his wife, Kim, will be on campus in the next day or two, and Tennessee hopes to finalize a deal to make him the Vols' next coach, two people familiar with the situation told The Tennessean tonight.
Pearl, who guided Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16 this season, was in Knoxville yesterday and met with UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton and UT President John Petersen. Pearl also met with Hamilton and UT Associate Athletics Director John Currie on Friday in Chicago.
Two other finalists for the job, Creighton's Dana Altman and Alabama-Birmingham's Mike Anderson, withdrew their names from consideration yesterday when it became apparent that Pearl was the Vols' top choice.
Charlotte's Bobby Lutz is a fourth candidate to have interviewed for the job and remains a possibility should something fall through with Pearl.
Pearl taped his final Wisconsin-Milwaukee coaches show tonight and reiterated his interest in the Tennessee job. He told several people that he had yet to be offered the job, but two people familiar with UT's search said that was only a formality.
Hamilton did not return phone messages tonight, as has been his policy throughout the search. Also, UT director of public relations Tiffany Carpenter did not return phone messages.
Pearl was 86-38 in four seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and gained national notoriety after his Panthers upset Alabama and Boston College earlier this month to reach the Sweet 16.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a No. 12 seed, was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament Thursday in a 77-63 loss to No. 1-ranked Illinois.
One of Pearl's biggest proponents was former Tennessee All-American Ernie Grunfeld, now the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards. Grunfeld endorsed Pearl to Hamilton at the outset of the Vols' coaching search.
Grunfeld and Pearl got to know each other when Grunfeld was in Milwaukee as the Bucks' general manager.
Pearl would become the Vols' sixth head coach in the last 16 years. Buzz Peterson was fired on March 13 after going 61-59 in four seasons.
Peterson's total compensation was in the $850,000 range, and Hamilton said he was prepared to pay as much as $1.5 million for the ''right'' coach.
Either way, it will be a sizeable raise for Pearl, who signed a five-year deal at UWM last October that will escalate to more than $300,000 annually by the end of the contract.
Before coming to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pearl was at Southern Indiana for nine seasons and won a Division II national championship there in 1995. He was an assistant under Dr. Tom Davis at both Iowa and Stanford before getting his first head coaching job at Southern Indiana.
