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We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season this fall, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who talked about his team’s trip to Israel last month and his expectations for this season.
You spent about 15 years as a student-manager/assistant coach for Tom Davis at BC/Stanford/Iowa: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He had a real system of how to play/coach the game. It was 94 feet: he believed in full-court pressure defense. He was very committed to up-tempo basketball so we made our opponents get back in transition. He taught me how to be patient and told me to be myself (so that I would always be authentic) and recommended that the foundation of my head coaching experience come from him (because I knew it and then could tweak it to make it my own, which I did).
In the 1995 D-2 title game as head coach at Southern Indiana you had an 8-PT win over UC Riverside: what did it mean to you to win a title, and did you ever think you would see the day that the Screaming Eagles would become a D-1 program? I thought/hoped that I could be a successful head coach after working for Tom at several different schools. I was unsure if I could do it but we had success right away at Southern Indiana and won a title during my 3rd year there. They LOVE their basketball in Indiana and I am very excited for “Superman” Stan Gouard to lead them into D-1. The campus/school/community are all ready for it.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney as coach at Auburn you became the 2nd team ever to defeat the 3 winningest programs in college basketball history (Kansas/North Carolina/Kentucky) in the same season: how did you do it?! We are the only team to beat them 3 in a row: Arizona beat them all in the 1997 NCAA tourney but not in a row. It was not just those 3 schools, it was Bill Self/Roy Williams/John Calipari: talk about a mismatch! We were a more talented team and played like it. I believe we averaged about 12 3PM in those games thanks to shooting the ball extremely well. I also had great guard play, which I think translates into championships. We had to beat UNC at their own game because nobody is better at fast-breaking than they are. They say it is hard to beat a team 3 times and Kentucky had swept us during the regular season with several future pros including Keldon Johnson/Tyler Herro/PJ Washington. Chuma Okeke was hurt but our guards outplayed their guards, as Jared Harper/Bryce Brown combined for 50 PTS. We respected them but were not afraid of them even though we were the “Cinderella” team who was playing with house money.
Last year you finished the regular season with 27 wins and just 4 losses away from home by a combined 16 PTS en route to being named 2022 SEC COY: do you feel like you are a better coach now than ever before, and if so is it based on wins/losses or some other factor? I would base it on championships/consistency/graduation. The reality is that I have had great players/coaches/staff. We have had tremendous player development, particularly at the big guard position.
You have won more than 600 games despite being 1 of the few D-1 basketball coaches who never played high school basketball: do you think that more guys who were not high school players should be given a chance to coach since you have proven that it is not a prerequisite for success? I would have played in high school had it not been for a career-ending injury as a freshman. I was around the game my whole life so you have to be in it to win it. I stayed in it by being a manager/assistant coach: God just had a different plan for me.
You had 2 players selected in the 1st round of the NBA Draft last June (Jabari Smith/Walker Kessler): how will you try to replace all of that talent? You cannot replace a pair of guys who were drafted #3 and #22…but that being said, the 2 big men we added (freshman Yohan Traore/Morehead State transfer Johni Broome) will play a lot for us this year and both have the potential to play professionally. The question is how good our other newcomers are and how much our returning players have improved. I think we will be picked around 5th in our league, which should put us in the top-25 nationally. We were picked 5th in our league last year…and ended up winning an SEC title. I love our depth, but the cream will need to rise to the top.
In August your team played 3 exhibition games in Israel: what was the best part of the trip for you either on or off the court? The best part was getting 5-6 of our players baptized in the Jordan River. The 2nd best part was for our players to see what a beautiful country Israel is. The fact that they got to see their Judeo-Christian roots was very special.
The SEC is 1 of the toughest conferences in the nation and you also have USC/Washington/West Virginia on your non-conference schedule: what is your philosophy when it comes to scheduling? Our players deserve to play against the best: there is no better message you can send them than showing that you believe in them. Our fans also deserve to see great players/coaches in Auburn Arena. This is the toughest non-conference schedule that I have ever had: we also have a tough tourney in Cancun in November. We will have 2 games against each of Alabama/Tennessee/Texas A&M: I think they will all finish in the top-7 of our league.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Over the past 5 years we have won more games than anyone else in the SEC. I would like to be able to say that after 6 years…but it will take some doing.