Bruce Pearl on Auburn Israel trip: ‘This is a sports trip, not a political trip’

Bruce Pearl is taking the Auburn basketball team to Israel and because it’s the year 2022, someone is upset about it — specifically, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, who called the trip a ‘propaganda junket.’

CAIR called on Auburn University to cancel an upcoming “birthright” trip to Israel, or failing that, to ‘at least meet with ordinary Palestinians and learn about Israel’s system of apartheid without the presence of Israeli handlers.’

Bruce Pearl’s response was beautifully defiant.

“This is a sports trip, not a political trip. We aren’t going to let a political action group define what we’re doing.”

Bruce Pearl’s itinerary for Auburn basketball’s Israel trip

When Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers take to the Holy Land, they will have a busy schedule on their plates. The Tigers will play three games over the course of 10 days in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: they will face the Israeli U-20 National Team twice, on August 2nd and 6th, as well as the Israeli Senior National Team on August 8th.

When Auburn plays the national team, 2020 NBA lottery pick Deni Avdija, now a member of the Washington Wizards, will be on the opposing team’s depth chart. Avdija graded out well in both BBall Index’s Passing Versatility (99th percentile) and Passing Creation Quality (92nd percentile) metrics (h/t Basketballnews.com) despite putting up fairly pedestrian counting stats in his second season this past year.

To Pearl, this trip will be once in a lifetime for both his coaching staff and his players, and those who have nothing to do with the program will have no say on how it operates this summer and moving forward.

War Damn Bruce Pearl.