It took six seasons, and six straight NCAA tournament appearances before the University of Tennessee at Knoxville decided that Bruce Pearl was not the gem for the Volunteers, firing Pearl Monday.
A statement released by the school acknowledged the logistics of the firing, stating that the decision to fire Pearl was a result of “additional violations committed on September 14 and March 2011” by his staff.
The renowned coach who undertook a stagnant Volunteers program after leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16 in 2006 will be packing his bags and join the dubious list of unemployed college coaches.
His predecessor, Buzz Peterson, held a 61-59 record with the Volunteers in four seasons with no NCAA appearances. But under the guidance of Pearl, the Volunteers were once again a well-recognized program, as Pearl boasted a 145-61 record over six seasons, including a No. 1 ranking and Elite Eight appearance in 2008.
But the amongst the popularity of Pearl, from his bright orange suits to showing up to a women’s basketball game bare chested and painted orange, the pressure to win caught up with him.
The events that unfolded in mid-September may have not led Pearl down the road to perdition, but were tall-tale signs of an end to an era marked by deceit, cover ups and NCAA violations.
On Sept. 10, the gem of Knoxville was cracked open, revealing the realities of being a Division I basketball coach: cutting corners in order to win.
Pearl told reporters in tearful remorse that he gave investigators false information when they inquiried about a cookout he held for recruits at his home. Pearl was charged with unethical conduct for misleading the investigators and the NCAA has since charged the Tennessee program with over a dozen recruiting violations, which included impermissible visits and phone calls to potential recruits.
So while the school backed Pearl during the NCAA investigations, the tables turned on Pearl last week when Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton went on a Knoxville radio show and acknowledged that the program was “soul-searching,” and contemplating whether or not it needed to head into a new direction, retracting his comments that backed Pearl during the subsequent investigations.
Complement that with a 30-point blowout loss to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where Pearl’s players were accused of quitting on the game, and the inevitability of Pearl’s departure seemed that much more imminent.
But the Tennessee athletic department deemed the risk too great to keep Pearl with the NCAA Infractions Committee hearing set for June and possible severe sanctions ahead for the program.
Boosted attendance to games, a reemergence of a culture that had been dormant in the wake of the success of the women’s program under legendary coach Pat Summit will be all but a distant memory for the Volunteers under Pearl’s direction.
In the end, the charismatic, yet naive Pearl was dealt his fate: even gems can have scratches and cuts that even the best jewelers are unable to fix.
Pearl was once that shining gem that personified a cultural phenomenon among the University of Tennessee faithful and the immediate Knoxville community. Instead, six years of prominence, popularity and success will be overshadowed by possible sanctions that have tarnished and distorted the image that Pearl originally molded and shaped when he arrived in March 2006.
College basketball is about winning and sanctions to a program cripple the ability for the program to excel in such a competitive market. They provide the handicap, but for all the wrong reasons. Pearl was an enabler. The problem is, it might be for the other team.