The Bruce Pearl Effect

When coaches put their passion and selflessness into ALL aspects of their program, their team plays in April. Call it the Bruce Pearl Effect.

When I see Bruce Pearl I see a man who is human. He’s made mistakes along the way. I don’t condone the mistakes he’s made, but I don’t judge him solely based on them either. This is a man who admitted, apologized, and paid for his past mistakes. This is also a man who believes in second chances and makes the most of them.

Pearl came to Auburn in 2014 and inherited a complete mess left behind by Tony Barbee. During my freshman (2012-2013) and sophomore years (2013-2014) Auburn basketball went 23-39. I remember standing in an empty arena when the hottest SEC teams came to town and the quietness compared to now. The silence of the arena in those days was far more deafening than the loudest rumble of The Jungle today.

Perspective:

The most exciting Auburn basketball related thing I saw on campus during those two years was in the spring of 2013 when Auburn SGA placed a suggestion board on the Haley concourse filled with nothing but suggestions to fire Tony Barbee. I never saw Tony Barbee on campus, so chances are he never even saw that board.

Fast forward to one year later, I was late to class on a very early April morning because I couldn’t get through a giant crowd on the Haley concourse. Hundreds of people were gathered together for the opportunity to dunk Bruce Pearl. After witnessing this I saw Bruce Pearl everywhere, my absolute favorite being when he rang the midnight bell at RBD Library during finals weekend and passed out donuts to us. Not many coaches would get up in the middle of the night to do that, but Bruce does.

I remember seeing Bruce go table-to-table in the student center Chick-fil-A asking students how they were doing and what they were studying. In his earliest days he told us that if we showed up to Auburn basketball games, he would number one: feed us and number two: give Auburn a successful basketball program. We the student body bought in immediately.

Related: Bruce Pearl’s 2015 interview with ‘Humans of Auburn’ https://www.instagram.com/p/BvsK-qlHIRa/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Effect:

When Bruce Pearl stepped foot on Auburn’s campus he breathed total life back into the program. His passion for other people was a major factor not just off the court, but on the court as well.

After taking over as head coach in 2014, it took Bruce two years to get the program back to having a winning record. One year after reestablishing a winning record Bruce Pearl coached a team that finished 26-8, won the SEC Regular Season Championship, and made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. This year the team won the SEC Conference Tournament Championship and is headed to the first Final Four in school history.

What’s crazier? Bruce Pearl’s teams aren’t built of AP All Americans or 1st Team All SEC Players. Call me crazy, but either voters are seriously sleeping on Auburn’s talent or Bruce Pearl is the Coach of the Year. Any coach who builds a Final Four team from scratch like that should get that nod, right!? Coaches like Bruce Pearl build and maximize talent from the ground up. Even in the most adverse situations they can motivate and create a positive environment for their players to evoke success.

Six years ago I stood as a freshman in an empty student section as I watched Auburn basketball go 9-23 and today I’m on a plane to Minneapolis to watch Auburn basketball play in the Final Four, I present to you the Bruce Pearl Effect.