Bruce Pearl Biography
Bruce Allan Pearl better known as Bruce Pearl is an American college basketball coach. He was born on March 18th, 1960 in Boston. He attended Sharon High School in Massachusetts and graduated in 1982 from Boston College.
Here, he served as the men’s basketball coach. He is married to Brandy and the couple has two daughters and two sons together. Before he moving to Tennessee, he was a coach at Milwaukee and at Southern Indiana where he won a Divisin II national championship. He has also served as an assistant coach at Lowa under Tom Davis.
Bruce Pearl Family
Bruce Pearl Wife | Bruce Pearl’s Current Wife
He was previously married to Kim Pearl from 1982-2007. He is now married to Brandy.
Bruce Pearl Daughter
He has two daughters, Jacqui and Leah.
Bruce PearlBruce Pearl Son
He also has two sons, Steve and Michael.
Bruce Pearl Salary | Bruce Pearl Contract
He has a six year contract worth $14.7 million with a basic salary of $250,000 and $975,000 in both endorsement rights and media appearances, with increases of $50,000 annually in both.
Bruce Pearl Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $ 700,000.
Bruce Pearl Basketball Camp
For more details about the camp, CLICK HERE.
Bruce Pearl House | Bruce Pearl’s House Knoxville
Bruce Pearl HouseBruce Pearl Foundation
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Bruce Pearl Auburn
He joined Auburn as their 20th head basketball coach on March 18, 2014, replacing Tony Barbee. He was hired despite being under a show-cause penalty as a result of recruiting violations which had occurred while he was the head coach at Tennessee.
He was greeted by the Auburn fans when he arrived at the Auburn University Regional Airport. He then attended a press conference in Auburn Arena that evening. He signed a 6-year contract that is worth $2.2 million per year with a $100,000 annual addition.
He won his first game as a for Auburn on November 14th, 2014 against his former school, Milwaukee, 83–73. Despite him failing to finish with a winning record for the first time ever in his career as a head coach, his first two seasons at Auburn didn’t lack some significant wins.
Pearl led Auburn to the SEC Tournament semifinals back in 2015 as a 13 seed, and ended Auburn’s 18-game losing streak to Kentucky in 2016. He earned his 500th career win as a head coach on January 18th, 2017 after winning the game against LSU, 78–74.
Associate head coach, Chuck Person, was arrested on charges of corruption and bribery just before his fourth season at Auburn. Despite the investigations, both internally and externally and also losing two players due to the investigation, Pearl has managed to lead the 2017–18 team to its best record since 1999 by winning the SEC regular season championship.
Bruce Pearl Head Coaching Record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (Great Lakes Valley Conference) (1992–2001) | |||||||||
| 1992–93 | Southern Indiana | 22–7 | 14–4 | 2nd | NCAA NCAA Division II Regional Third Place | ||||
| 1993–94 | Southern Indiana | 28–4 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Runner-up | ||||
| 1994–95 | Southern Indiana | 29–4 | 15–3 | 3rd | NCAA Division II Champion | ||||
| 1995–96 | Southern Indiana | 25–4 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1996–97 | Southern Indiana | 23–5 | 16–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 1997–98 | Southern Indiana | 27–6 | 16–4 | 3rd | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1998–99 | Southern Indiana | 26–6 | 18–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1999–00 | Southern Indiana | 25–6 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2000–01 | Southern Indiana | 26–4 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| Southern Indiana: | 231–46 (.834) | 148–28 (.841) | |||||||
| Milwaukee Panthers (Horizon League) (2001–2005) | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | Milwaukee | 16–13 | 11–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2002–03 | Milwaukee | 24–8 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2003–04 | Milwaukee | 20–11 | 13–3 | 1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2004–05 | Milwaukee | 26–6 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| Milwaukee: | 86–38 (.694) | 51–13 (.797) | |||||||
| Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) (2005–2011) | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | Tennessee | 22–8 | 12–4 | 1st (East) | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Tennessee | 24–11 | 10–6 | 2nd (East) | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2007–08 | Tennessee | 31–5 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2008–09 | Tennessee | 21–13 | 10–6 | T–1st (East) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Tennessee | 28–9 | 11–5 | 3rd (East) | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 2010–11 | Tennessee | 19–15 | 8–8 | 5th (East) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Tennessee: | 145–61 (.704) | 65–31 (.677) | |||||||
| Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2014–present) | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Auburn | 15–20 | 4–14 | 13th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Auburn | 11–20 | 5–13 | 13th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Auburn | 18–14 | 7–11 | 11th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Auburn | 26–8 | 13–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Auburn | 13–3 | 2-1 | ||||||
| Auburn: | 83–65 (.561) | 31–44 (.413) | |||||||
| Total: | 544–210 (.721) | ||||||||
Bruce Pearl Twitter
Bruce Pearl Video
Bruce Pearl Press Conference | Bruce Pearl Press Conference 1.19.18
Bruce Pearl Interview | Bruce Pearl on AUTLIVE Full Interview
Bruce Pearl Aaron Craft | Bruce Pearl wants SEC Network to film a barbecue cookout at his house
Source; al.com
Bruce Pearl has an idea on how he can elevate Auburn in the national spotlight, even if he has to poke fun at himself in the process.
The Auburn coach believes the SEC Network could help the Tigers as they attempt to rebuild a program that has not reached the NCAA Tournament in 10 years. Pearl, who is serving a show-cause penalty for lying to the NCAA, has an idea for a segment, too: a cookout at his home.
“Bring the SEC Network to my home and let see a barbecue, let them see what a barbecue looks like,” Pearl said. “Let them see me cooking.”
Pearl’s idea elicited chuckles from reporters. The former Tennessee coach got in hot water when he invited recruit Aaron Craft to a barbecue at his home in 2010. Pearl lied about it to the NCAA, leading him down a path to a three-year show-cause penalty and the end of his tenure at Tennessee.
Pearl, however, was serious about the proposal.
“Got to make sure the guest list is what it needs to be,” Pearl joked. “But don’t you think the fans want to see that and understand so much of what we do is beyond just the basketball, it’s about the books. Go in there and watch a coach do class checks or be in a study hall situation where there’s some academic integrity. Those are the kind of things, those stories can be told.”
Pearl will be allowed to evaluate players and recruit when his three-year NCAA penalty ends Aug. 24.
How Bruce Pearl lugged Auburn out of SEC irrelevance
Source; columbiamissourian.com
Minutes after losing to South Carolina in the opening round of the 2014 Southeastern Conference Tournament, Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs had enough. He decided the decision shouldn’t be prolonged.
Jacobs approached head coach Tony Barbee and informed him of the school’s desire to go in a different direction. Barbee’s direction — if it can be given that distinction — slowly degraded the on-court product. He posted a 49-75 record across four seasons, all of which finished below .500, and routinely finished in the basement of the SEC with no substantial improvement.
Barbee was unable to overcome the amount of talent that fled his roster. Of the 21 players signed during his tenure, only nine players remained through his fourth season. The others left via transfer or dismissal.
On March 18, just six days after Barbee’s firing, Auburn found hope.
The university announced the signing of Bruce Pearl to a six-year contract.
Since his hiring, Pearl has captained an impressive five-year turnaround of one of the SEC’s struggling basketball programs.
Here’s how it happened.
One of the most successful coaches in Tennessee basketball history, Pearl immediately found himself in a precarious situation at Auburn. Due to recruiting violations committed at Tennessee, Pearl was handed a three-year “show-cause penalty” in August 2011. The penalty’s consequences carry over to any school that hires the coach. In effect, Pearl was barred from recruiting or evaluating prospects through August 2014, five months into his new job with the Tigers.
“I want to be accountable,” said Pearl to ESPN.com in 2014. “This is the penalty. I’m Auburn’s men’s basketball coach and we’ll work with the NCAA on what I can do.”
The 2014-15 season came with its headaches. After starting a hopeful 8-5 against nonconference competition, Auburn stumbled through SEC play with a 4-14 record. Pearl finished the regular season with a losing record for the first time in his collegiate career — 12-19.
Then, in the SEC Tournament, Auburn took on a new life. The Tigers rattled off wins against Mississippi State, Texas A&M and an overtime thriller against LSU, all by single digits. Their luck ran out against an undefeated, top-ranked Kentucky team in the semifinals. They lost 91-67.
Pearl’s program took a step back in the 2015-16 season, as he continued to shed Barbee’s players and cement his foundation. The Tigers lost four players to graduation and three to transfer. Pearl’s first full offseason of recruitment, however, yielded a strong foundation, including Georgia product Bryce Brown, who currently leads the Tigers in points per game.
Auburn struggled out of the gate to a 9-8 record before losing 12 of 14 to end the year 11-20. Less than half of its wins came against SEC competition, and the Tigers once again found themselves among the dregs of the conference, finishing 13th.
The fruits of Pearl’s masterful recruiting finally came to bear entering his third season. Auburn received letters of intent from two ESPN five-star recruits in shooting guard Mustapha Heron and center Austin Wiley and two four-star recruits in point guard Jared Harper and forward Anfernee McLemore.
The improved talent translated quickly to the hardwood. Pearl’s patented offensive game plan translated to a 10-2 start and 96.1 points per game in part from the contributions of Harper, Heron and forward Danjel Purifoy. Through early February, Pearl navigated his group to a 16-8 record, before the SEC bug bit the Tigers for the third time in his tenure. The Tigers dropped five of their next seven, falling to 18-13 and setting up a date with Missouri in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Missouri fans remember what occurred next.
Playing for already-doomed coach Kim Anderson, the 7-23 Tigers mustered a little magic. Missouri strung together one of its best offensive performances of the season, managing to push the game to overtime.
The Tigers knocked down a season-high 16 3-pointers in the contest, including this Kevin Puryear shot at the top of the key.
Auburn’s season ended on a sour note, but the upcoming additions of ESPN four-star recruits Chuma Okeke and Davion Mitchell put the Tigers in position to improve upon their first winning season since 2008-09.
Then, on Sept. 27, 2017, the FBI and the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of 10 people, including Auburn assistant Chuck Person, on charges of corruption and fraud. Person, specifically, was indicted on fraud, conspiracy and federal bribery charges.
The school subsequently suspended Person without pay.
As a result of the investigation, Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy were ruled ineligible for the season. Person supposedly funneled money to the players’ families. The team also lost a commitment from 2018 four-star forward E.J. Montgomery. Though Person was the only Auburn employee listed, the investigation sparked criticism of Pearl, who dealt with recruiting violations nine years earlier.
Through all of the attention, noise and questions surrounding the program, Auburn moved ahead unfazed. The Tigers sprang to a 16-1 record off the back of an electric offense featuring Brown, Heron and Harper that averaged more than 87 points per game.
Pearl’s SEC fortunes finally turned the corner as he navigated his squad to an 11-2 conference start. The team’s performance in January and February vaulted them to No. 8 in the country, its highest ranking in 18 years. The Tigers rounded out SEC play at 13-5, earning the conference regular season co-championship alongside Tennessee. An SEC Tournament quarterfinal exit at the hands of Collin Sexton and rival Alabama quickly shifted the team’s focus to the NCAA Tournament — the team’s first under Pearl.
The Tigers escaped an upset in the first round of the tournament despite shooting just 35 percent from the field. If not for Jared Harper’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 1 minute, 17 seconds to play against No. 13 College of Charleston, No. 4 Auburn would’ve been the biggest upset in the Midwest region.
The Tigers’ season crumbled at the hands of another Tigers squad — No. 5 Clemson. The offense that boosted Auburn to a 25-6 regular season completely faltered in the second round. The Tigers converted a pitiful 19 points in the first half while allowing 43 on the other end. They shot 25 percent overall from the field, nabbed seven offensive rebounds and 19 fouls. This recipe of ineptitude resulted in an 84-53 loss and the conclusion of Pearl’s fourth campaign.
Despite the preseason turmoil and disappointing NCAA run, the university was pleased with the overall progress Pearl mounted through his tenure. In June 2018, Auburn extended Pearl through the 2022-2023 season.
Pearl has continued to sustain the success he’s built into his fifth season. The Tigers boast a 13-6 record after losing their last three. As Cuonzo Martin brings his Tigers into Auburn on Wednesday, the second-year Missouri coach continues to work through the same template that Pearl set back in 2014.
Take a struggling SEC program. Instill a unified culture. Sign talented recruits. Win. Sustain.