You are here:
Home /
NCAA Basketball / Bruce Pearl’s Future as Tennessee Vols’ Coach Extremely Doubtful
Bruce Pearl’s Future as Tennessee Vols’ Coach Extremely Doubtful
Bruce Pearl has not officially been fired as head basketball coach at Tennessee, but that’s a pretty good way to bet. His job appears to be secure for the duration of the Vols’ tenure in this years NCAA Tournament, but that’s about as far as Tennessee officials are willing to go. The Associated Press reports:
Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton says he does not know if Bruce Pearl will be the Volunteers’ coach after this season ends.In an interview with WNML-AM in Knoxville that aired Wednesday, Hamilton said that he, the UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and school trustees will evaluate Pearl after the season ends. The ninth-seeded Vols play eighth-seeded Michigan on Friday in the NCAA tournament.
Pearl has been working without a contract since revealing in September that he mislead NCAA investigators during a probe into recruiting. The NCAA charged him with unethical conduct and other violations, though the NCAA has not released a final ruling on the matter.
So, the Mike Hamilton isn’t willing to stand behind Pearl at this time and won’t make a decision until after the NCAA Tournament. For those of you playing at home, that’s code for:
We’re scouting other coaching candidates and won’t can our current guy until we’ve nailed down who we want. However, we will drop our violation-ridden coach at the earliest opportunity.
It’s obvious that Tennessee is done with Pearl and that they don’t want to deal with the heavy baggage that will be hanging around his neck for some time to come. The Vols are looking for a clean start for their program next year. The operative word being “clean”.
Posted by Hrothgar Santana on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Filed under NCAA Basketball, NCAA Tournament, Tennessee Volunteers · Tagged with Bruce Pearl, Bruce Pearl doubtful, Bruce Pearl fired, Bruce Pearl future doubtful, Bruce Pearl jury is out, Bruce Pearl Mike Hamilton AD, Bruce Pearl NCAA Tournament, Bruce Pearl NCAA violations, Bruce Pearl out as Vols coach, Bruce Pearl WNML-AM Knoxville
