Auburn basketball: Bruce Pearl surprises zoom class with finals pep talk

Bruce Pearl may be the head coach of Auburn basketball, but everyone knows that it’s not just his student athletes that he cares about. Whether it’s handing out breakfast to the students in line for 11 a.m. basketball games or making sure to address the AU Jungle after the final buzzer, Coach Pearl has earned a spot in the hearts of most Auburn fans.

Pearl’s support for the Auburn family extends beyond the Plains as he continues to root for his players battling it out in the NBA. His Twitter is littered with supportive retweets of former players, most recently Chuma Okeke’s poster dunk for the Orlando Magic just yesterday.

As finals week begins on the Plains, Coach Pearl took the time to join a chemistry class zoom to wish students good luck on their upcoming finals. According to student Josie Thomas, Pearl told the class he was praying for them and was proud of their hard work all semester.

While chemistry and Auburn basketball are definitely two different ballgames, Bruce Pearl has also been working hard all semester to ensure the 2021-22 roster is locked and loaded. After losing Tyrell Jones and Javon Franklin to South Alabama, Jamal Johnson to UAB, Justin Powell to Tennessee, and Sharife Cooper–with J.T. Thor?– to the NBA, Pearl had some work to do.

Despite the de-commitment of four-star signee Trey Alexander, Pearl and his staff have picked up four transfers from the portal, each heading to the Plains with playing experience under their belt, which will be strikingly different from Pearl’s team last year that was considered the youngest in the NCAA.

Good luck to all the Auburn students taking finals this week, and War Eagle!