Auburn assistant basketball coach Steven Pearl doesn't lead like someone who wants to remain under his father's shadow forever.
In his continued call-outs of the Tigers' locker room, Bruce Pearl's son is proving he wants more. Steven is a head coach in waiting -- whether it's on the Plains, so Bruce can pursue a certain "dream job," or elsewhere to compete with his father's Auburn program.
On Tuesday's edition of "The Next Round Live," Steven explained how he inspired the locker room to avoid the same fate as last year's team against Yale.
“I went straight from the hand shake line to Andy [Burcham] and I was pissed," Pearl said.
“Last year when when we lost to Yale, we let some things catch up to us that hadn’t been addressed and I did not want that to happen this year.”
His call-outs of Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara led to successful outings for the star pair against Creighton.
“Johni [Broome] and Chad [Baker-Mazara] have to be better. They have to be better in all aspects of the game. If they are not, we will not win. I’d imagine Coach will challenge them pretty hard right now. They didn’t bring it tonight and I have no idea why. No idea,” Pearl said.
Broome hasn't yet looked like a Wooden Award finalist during the postseason and hasn't for weeks. If he can put it together, that'd make Auburn the most dangerous team remaining.
Steven can earn himself a massive future paycheck by continuing his efforts to get the locker room avoid letdown losses.
His audition is going swimmingly so far.