Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl will not be handing any player a larger salary than he makes. CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter reports Pearl's $5.9 million coaching salary won't be topped by any recruit's NIL payout, a current trend in the sport.
"The dynamics are changing in real-time. In the rush to spend money before it's subject to oversight, it's conceivable a deal so large is made before Monday that a player can earn a heftier paycheck than the head coach. It's not going to happen at Auburn, where Bruce Pearl makes $5.9 million annually, but slide down the list of college basketball's highest paid coaches and you get into the 3s and 2s rather quickly," Trotter wrote.
Pearl's system, not any one individual talent, is what got the Tigers to the Big Dance. Johni Broome was named Sporting News National College Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season, but let's not forget he was a three-star transfer from Morehead State.
When Pearl had the most talented recruit in history, Jabari Smith, and a 5-star blue-chip from UNC, Walker Kessler, AU was a second-round elimination.
No knock to that team, which also lacked the elite guard play this current Final Four team has. But even the 2019 Final Four team didn't have a player with Smith or Kessler's pedigree.
Ratings and rankings come secondary to system fit for Pearl on the recruiting trail. And when it comes to college basketball dominance, it comes down to coaches who can constantly find undervalued talent with specific skills that can fit together like a puzzle.
Pearl is becoming very good at that. And because of it, Auburn's donor base is going to start investing in a sport other than football. Pearl's transfer portal class for the 2025-26 season already has ex-UCF star Keyshawn Hall. We're already seeing it in action.
What we'll never see is one player making more than Pearl. Expect great recruits on the Plains moving forward, but not the most hyped-up recruits who have a chance at making more than Bruce.