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Vols find their Pearl
Friday, February 17, 2006
STEVE KIRK
News staff writer
Bruce Pearl is a passionate man.
You learn this when you see him getting ejected from the stands while attending his son's high school basketball game.
Or when you hear LSU coach John Brady question his "class" after he teases Brady's student section in Baton Rouge.
But calling Pearl passionate is like calling Yao Ming "tall" or Dick Vitale "talkative."
It doesn't seem to do him justice.
It's true that Pearl, the first-year University of Tennessee basketball coach, is "a basketball junkie," said Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld, one of the Vols' distinguished alumni.
And his belief in 40 minutes of full-court defensive pressure and fast-break, 3-point shooting on offense has seemingly injected Kryptonite into a roster of players that finished with a losing record a year ago.
The Vols' No.8 Associated Press ranking, 19-3 overall record and Southeastern Conference-best 10-1 league mark coming into Saturday's 3 p.m. game at Alabama supports that.
But there's a bigger reason why UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton said he plans to reward Pearl with a new contract. It is expected to be worth at least twice what his $800,000 annual package that runs through 2010, pays.
Basketball matters again at Tennessee.
Among the reasons why:
Pearl immediately threw down a gauntlet after his hire, saying that his program would be measured by how it did against rival Kentucky, the SEC's measuring stick. The Vols won 75-67 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 7.
Pearl sent his players into the stands at Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum last Saturday after beating the Bulldogs 83-78.
He said he got the idea from former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry, who sent his players into the stands after winning at Illinois one year to thank them for coming.
"When I was (coaching) at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, we did the same thing on occasion," Pearl said. ... "Talking to many (Tennessee) fans after the game, it was the first trip for many that they'd ever made on the road to watch Tennessee play. It was a thanks for coming and helping us secure a victory."
Pearl drew Brady's ire on Jan. 14 when he responded to fans heckling UT player Dane Bradshaw. As fans chanted Bradshaw's name, Peal walked down the bench to Bradshaw, raised his hand to the student section and put him back in the game with 1:07 remaining.
Afterward, Brady said within earshot of many people on press row, "Tell their coach to show some class."
Later, Hamilton responded that his coach had class and he "wouldn't trade him for anybody else in America - he's been a breath of fresh air."
Even away from coaching.
On Feb. 2, Pearl was attending his son's game at West High in Knoxville when he criticized a referee. The offended ref proceeded to stop play and find security personnel to ask Pearl to leave.
Pearl, wise to the proceeding, walked into the lobby on his own, where he joked with the officers who approached him.
"It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he was getting ready to be kicked out," security officer Dave Sanderson told The Tennesseean.
Pearl, a 1982 graduate of Boston College and protege of veteran coach Tom Davis, worked for Davis at BC, Stanford and Iowa.
In 1992, at the age of 32, he became a head coach at Division II Southern Indiana. Three years later he won the national championship. And in four years at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he went to two NCAA Tournaments. The final one, last season, he beat Alabama and Boston College to advance to the Sweet 16.
So, he's no spring chicken. And it took him a while to get here. But his confidence, energy and, well, passion (there it is again) has rubbed off on a roster of players who had far less success under previous UT coach Buzz Peterson.
"The biggest change in them is the uplift of belief and confidence in how they're playing," Brady said. "I don't necessarily know if it's the style of play as much as a belief the players have in what they're doing."
When he took the UT job on March 28, 2005, he was faced with a 24,500-seat arena that was often half filled in recent years and a fairly full roster of returnees that finished 6-10 in SEC play last year. So, Pearl said he had to strike a balance between focusing on injecting excitement in the program with traditional necessities such as recruiting and teaching.
"I've always been places where the buildings were too small," Pearl said. "I finally got a job where they said the building was too big. And it's not. Because if you're successful at Tennessee, you'll get support like no other. We're seeing that at home and we're beginning to see that on the road."
Tennessee averages 19,953 fans in six SEC home games.
And the Vols' game Saturday at Alabama is sold out. Rest assured, there will be orange mixed with crimson inside Coleman Coliseum. UT cares again.
"I just think like a lot of guys, he was very successful at the smaller level," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "And when he had the opportunity to coach at this level, you knew he'd do well."
Friday, February 17, 2006
STEVE KIRK
News staff writer
Bruce Pearl is a passionate man.
You learn this when you see him getting ejected from the stands while attending his son's high school basketball game.
Or when you hear LSU coach John Brady question his "class" after he teases Brady's student section in Baton Rouge.
But calling Pearl passionate is like calling Yao Ming "tall" or Dick Vitale "talkative."
It doesn't seem to do him justice.
It's true that Pearl, the first-year University of Tennessee basketball coach, is "a basketball junkie," said Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld, one of the Vols' distinguished alumni.
And his belief in 40 minutes of full-court defensive pressure and fast-break, 3-point shooting on offense has seemingly injected Kryptonite into a roster of players that finished with a losing record a year ago.
The Vols' No.8 Associated Press ranking, 19-3 overall record and Southeastern Conference-best 10-1 league mark coming into Saturday's 3 p.m. game at Alabama supports that.
But there's a bigger reason why UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton said he plans to reward Pearl with a new contract. It is expected to be worth at least twice what his $800,000 annual package that runs through 2010, pays.
Basketball matters again at Tennessee.
Among the reasons why:
Pearl immediately threw down a gauntlet after his hire, saying that his program would be measured by how it did against rival Kentucky, the SEC's measuring stick. The Vols won 75-67 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 7.
Pearl sent his players into the stands at Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum last Saturday after beating the Bulldogs 83-78.
He said he got the idea from former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry, who sent his players into the stands after winning at Illinois one year to thank them for coming.
"When I was (coaching) at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, we did the same thing on occasion," Pearl said. ... "Talking to many (Tennessee) fans after the game, it was the first trip for many that they'd ever made on the road to watch Tennessee play. It was a thanks for coming and helping us secure a victory."
Pearl drew Brady's ire on Jan. 14 when he responded to fans heckling UT player Dane Bradshaw. As fans chanted Bradshaw's name, Peal walked down the bench to Bradshaw, raised his hand to the student section and put him back in the game with 1:07 remaining.
Afterward, Brady said within earshot of many people on press row, "Tell their coach to show some class."
Later, Hamilton responded that his coach had class and he "wouldn't trade him for anybody else in America - he's been a breath of fresh air."
Even away from coaching.
On Feb. 2, Pearl was attending his son's game at West High in Knoxville when he criticized a referee. The offended ref proceeded to stop play and find security personnel to ask Pearl to leave.
Pearl, wise to the proceeding, walked into the lobby on his own, where he joked with the officers who approached him.
"It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he was getting ready to be kicked out," security officer Dave Sanderson told The Tennesseean.
Pearl, a 1982 graduate of Boston College and protege of veteran coach Tom Davis, worked for Davis at BC, Stanford and Iowa.
In 1992, at the age of 32, he became a head coach at Division II Southern Indiana. Three years later he won the national championship. And in four years at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he went to two NCAA Tournaments. The final one, last season, he beat Alabama and Boston College to advance to the Sweet 16.
So, he's no spring chicken. And it took him a while to get here. But his confidence, energy and, well, passion (there it is again) has rubbed off on a roster of players who had far less success under previous UT coach Buzz Peterson.
"The biggest change in them is the uplift of belief and confidence in how they're playing," Brady said. "I don't necessarily know if it's the style of play as much as a belief the players have in what they're doing."
When he took the UT job on March 28, 2005, he was faced with a 24,500-seat arena that was often half filled in recent years and a fairly full roster of returnees that finished 6-10 in SEC play last year. So, Pearl said he had to strike a balance between focusing on injecting excitement in the program with traditional necessities such as recruiting and teaching.
"I've always been places where the buildings were too small," Pearl said. "I finally got a job where they said the building was too big. And it's not. Because if you're successful at Tennessee, you'll get support like no other. We're seeing that at home and we're beginning to see that on the road."
Tennessee averages 19,953 fans in six SEC home games.
And the Vols' game Saturday at Alabama is sold out. Rest assured, there will be orange mixed with crimson inside Coleman Coliseum. UT cares again.
"I just think like a lot of guys, he was very successful at the smaller level," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "And when he had the opportunity to coach at this level, you knew he'd do well."
