Once upon a time Bruce Pearl was college basketball’s pariah.
Believe it or not, the Auburn head coach who has the Tigers back in the Final Four for the second time in seven years (six if you take out the tournament cancellation in 2020), was once on the outside looking in amongst the coaching ranks.
Pearl and his Auburn players have embraced one another riding their chemistry all the way into the Final FourGettyThat’s because Pearl was fired as the head coach of Tennessee 14 years ago, over something that seemed silly at the time, and even sillier in 2025.
He was fired over hotdogs and hamburgers.
Given the pink slip for throwing a BBQ.
Okay sort, kind of, not exactly.
He was fired because he lied to the NCAA about hosting a barbecue for recruits, which was an NCAA violation.
And that wasn’t Pearl’s first time toeing the line with the NCAA.
The fact that he withheld information and lied about it is, is what got him the axe in the end.
The best part about Pearl is that he knew in real time that he was committing a violation, but didn’t care.
In fact, he told the recruits and their families at the BBQ, that this was against the rules.
In the termination letter, the Tennessee athletic director at the time, Mike Hamilton wrote that Pearl “knowingly violated NCAA rules.”
Pearl was the head coach at Tennessee for six seasons before his terminationGetty Pearl has been able to lift the Auburn basketball program to heights it has never gone to beforeGettyAccording to Hamilton, during the barbecue at the coach’s house Pearl “admitted to the unofficial visitors and their families that their presence at your house was a violation of NCAA rules.
“You also told the unofficial visitors and their families that you were not going to tell anyone about the NCAA rules violation, and you asked that they not tell anyone either.”
Lying about the barbecue was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Pearl’s time in Knoxville.
He was given a three-year show-cause penalty for his infractions, that caused him to be out of the game altogether between his firing in August of 2011 and hiring at Auburn in March of 2014.
Since arriving in Auburn, Pearl has lifted the basketball program to heights it never even came close to sniffing.
Before Pearl arrived, the Tigers had zero Final Four appearances and only one Elite Eight appearance to their name, all the way back in 1986.
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Since the enigmatic coach stepped foot on campus, Auburn has made two Final Fours, won four SEC regular season titles and two SEC tournament championships.
It has been an unprecedented run for Auburn basketball.
And it’s all thanks to the man, who once upon a time held a cookout he wasn’t supposed to have.
Lied about it.
Wracked up a couple more infractions along the way, and found himself unemployed.
In the era of NIL and paying players ridiculous amounts of money, it’s funny (and ridiculous) to look back at the old way of the NCAA and see what was viewed as taboo and highly against the rules at the time.
For Pearl however, he has rebranded his image.
He’s always been an unapologetic winner, but now he’s doing it on the sports biggest stage.
His players love him and college basketball is better for having him.
And now, the man who once found himself in deep hot water over some hot dogs, is just two wins away from college basketball immortality.
Who knows, maybe if Auburn gets the job done, he’ll have his players over to celebrate with a couple of burgers and a good old fashioned BBQ.
It’s 2025 after all, go ahead and fire up the grill.
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March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
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