Bruce Pearl hit win No. 214 as Auburn basketball's head coach on Tuesday, breaking the Tigers' all-time wins record previously owned by Joel Eaves. AU disposed of Texas 87-82 in a game they relinquished a double-digit lead in and nearly squandered away in the final moments.
But a win is a win. And when you collect 214 of them, you become a legend on the Plains that will take a long time, if not forever, to top.
After Pearl's crowning achievement, Rivals' Brian Stultz pitched Auburn building Pearl a statue outside Neville Arena to honor the man who took an ailing program under Tony Barbee and transformed it into a perennial powerhouse.
As Stultz notes, doing so wouldn't be an anomaly. It'd actually be par for the course.
"The plans should already be prepared for the board of trustee to see. The board of trustees, in turn, should vote for the plan unanimously. Everyone should get behind the idea: Bruce Pearl Court at Neville Arena," Stultz wrote.
"After Auburn's victory over Texas on Tuesday, Pearl became the winningest coach in program history. That alone should be enough to get his name etched into arena lore for the rest of time. But it's much more than that.
"Auburn already has examples of honoring coaches in this way. Plainsman Park has both Samford and Hitchcock names attached to it. Jordan-Hare Stadium became Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And while Dye most definitely left his legacy and stamp on the football program for what he accomplished from 1981-92 as both coach and athletic director, what Pearl has done for Auburn's basketball program is even more impressive."
Pearl's impact on AU may never be quantifiable. If he were to put a cherry on top and win a championship, he'd undoubtedly surpass Cam Newton as the school's greatest sports hero of the 21st century.