TN basketball

[PoconoPony]

"It was the Vols' first game after coach Bruce Pearl dismissed Tyler Smith on Friday, a week after the senior was arrested on misdemeanor gun and drug charges. Tennessee was also playing without Cameron Tatum, Melvin Goins and Brian Williams, who were arrested Jan. 1 with Smith.'

"But Tennessee, who had already lost two players before the season started, played even more shorthanded than that. Starters Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince found themselves in foul trouble early and both spent more than half of the game on the bench.'

"The Vols showed they could play defense even playing three walk-ons and two freshmen at the same time. They limited the Jayhawks, who entered the game shooting 51.3 percent from the field, to an uncharacteristic 37.7 percent. Tennessee shot 48.1 percent, the best by a Kansas opponent this season.'

Missing 7 scholarship players, using 3 walk-ons and 2 freshmen plus 2 starters in immediate foul trouble and TN still knocks of #1 ranked KU. I wonder if coaching makes a difference???????

[Harry0569]

The three by the walk-on McBee with under a minute left might have been the luckiest shot I have ever seen. Still, my hat goes off to the job Pearl did after losing T-Smith. Huge win for the program.

[RunPeruna]

Bruce Pearl is a great coach and has earned all of the success he is now a part of. I believe he couldn't get a head job in D1 so he went and won at D2, then a small D1 and then got a job in the SEC that played third fiddle to the football and women's basketball program. Plus, his style is uptempo, fun to watch, and fun to play! He is a top notch coach. I would love for us to go that direction whenever we make a basketball hire again. Find a winner at a lower program and allow him to make a name for himself here.

[NickSMU17]

He is a rat...he is not well liked in this part of town

The Dale Hanson of coaching

[RGV Pony]

He is a rat...he is not well liked in this part of town

The Dale Hanson of coaching

whatever happened to Deon Thomas anyway?

[NickSMU17]

I preface by saying I hate U of I, but he played forever in Europe...

[RunPeruna]

He is a rat...he is not well liked in this part of town

The Dale Hanson of coaching

Well he very well could be, I'm not sure. I was only speaking on behalf of his success as a coach and how he had to work his way up through the ranks. I obviously don't know the guy personally so I'll take your word on that part, but apparently he can coach his players up. That part would be nice to have.

[NickSMU17]

I have no problem with him if he is our guy, but while he is with someone else...he is a rat

During the 1988-89 basketball season, Pearl, then an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, was at the center of a recruiting scandal involving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both Illinois and Iowa were recruiting Deon Thomas, a top high school player from Chicago. Pearl lost this recruiting battle when Thomas committed to Illinois. Thereafter, Pearl called the high school student and recorded a phone conversation with Thomas. During the conversation, Pearl asked Thomas if he had been offered an SUV and cash by Illinois assistant coach Jimmy Collins, and Thomas indicated he had. Pearl then turned over copies of the tapes to the NCAA, accompanied by a memo describing the events. During the subsequent NCAA investigation, Thomas denied the allegations and said the story was false; a lie detector test supported Thomas' claim. The NCAA did not find Illinois guilty of any wrongdoing relating to Thomas' recruitment, finding that the proof provided was not "credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs."[3] However, since the investigation uncovered other violations, including Illinois' third major violation in six years, the NCAA cited Illinois with a "lack of institutional control" charge and implemented several recruiting restrictions and a one-year post-season ban. The event led to a "blackballing" by many coaches in D-I, and even led ESPN commentator [deleted] Vitale to call Pearl's actions "career suicide" during a telecast.

When Pearl and Collins were both head coaches for four years in the Horizon League, the two men never engaged in the traditional postgame handshake, reportedly due to lingering feelings over the incident. When Thomas was asked about forgiving Pearl in a 2005 interview, he was quoted as saying "It's hard to forgive a snake." Thomas went on to play basketball at the University of Illinois, becoming its all-time leading scorer.
[edit] Success at South

[PoconoPony]

He is a rat...he is not well liked in this part of town

The Dale Hanson of coaching

Trying to be honest and calling a school out for illegal recruiting practices should not be cause for one to be characterized as a rat. Problem in society today is that too many look away then complain when things are wrong. Bottom line is that this guy coaches his kids up and can beat the No.# 1 ranked team when forced to use 3 walk-ons and frosh and without 7 schollie players who are off the squad. I must admit that the integrity of the type of players he has recruited is in big question which is another story and impacts virtually every major program.

[NickSMU17]

Bottom Line Is he tried to turn in a school when he knew he wasn't going to get the recruit...The NCAA found nothing wrong with the recruiting of that player but uncovered other violations...

He also recorded phone conversations with a recruit without telling him he was being recorded...that is illegal...

I am sure he is a great coach now and a fine guy, but call it how it is, the guy did some very shady things to advance himself...

Sounds like Dale Hanson to me...

[PoconoPony]

Bottom Line Is he tried to turn in a school when he knew he wasn't going to get the recruit...The NCAA found nothing wrong with the recruiting of that player but uncovered other violations...

He also recorded phone conversations with a recruit without telling him he was being recorded...that is illegal...

I am sure he is a great coach now and a fine guy, but call it how it is, the guy did some very shady things to advance himself...

Sounds like Dale Hanson to me...

Not sure that recording a phone call with anyone is illegal. If one party to the conversation (Pearl) consents the recording is legal in most venues. Also, the recording reportedly was with the recruit who was the person who alleged illegal recruiting practices. The old adage, "Where there is smoke there is fire" was appropriate to the Illinois situation. The recruit may have recanted and the NCAA could not prove the allegation; however, the other NCAA transgressions uncovered in the program strongly suggests that there was basis and the recruit may have lied when he recanted. Unfortunately, every coach finds himself recruiting in an environment where everyone involved may have some vested interest in the process. Human nature dictates that a certain % of the time that vested interests will manifest themselves as "what is in it for me". When this happens, whether it turns out to be recruit, parent, AAU coach, street agent...etc., the stage is set for problems and any recruiting coach can end up with a huge number of decisions on how to handle or deal with these situation. Pearl's decision was to advise the NCAA and step aside which was the prudent and right course of action. The rest is fallout and all fallout has consequences.

[PonyDoh]

He's a total rat, and is very much regarded as a very average coach in most industry circles. His teams consistently lack discipline on the court, are thugs off of it, and despite McD AA level talent, none of them go to the pro's. Great win for UT, but it's laughable to call him a great coach. What's worse is that he's a rat and still leans on Adidas to hand him players. He fell very far from the Tom Davis tree

[RunPeruna]

Maybe great is a stretch, but if your players don't go pro and win some big games then it seems that you can at least coach a little. I obviously do not know all of the inside info, but I guess my point was that he has won everywhere he has coached. That doesn't happen by accident. It may not be the ideal way to win and he may do some unethical stuff, but I would like to see us hire someone with his coaching resume (maybe not his recruiting or personal resume) when we do need a new coach. Surely there is someone out there that has been successful at a D2 or small D1 that would love to continue that success at SMU. At this point, maybe we need to be a building block for a while until we can find that perfect coach that likes it here.