What Does Bruce Pearl’s Departure Mean For Tennessee’s Future?

What will be the outcome of Tennessee’s program now that Pearl is gone?

By: Taren Vaughan

As many have been anticipating, Tennessee’s head men’s basketball coaching position has now become vacant as Coach Bruce Pearl was shown the door today by the school’s athletic director Mike Hamilton. Pearl’s dishonesty concerning his player recruitment tactics is the cause of his termination, something that has been quite an issue for other collegiate coaches in the past.

His dismissal was a result of a number of violations on his behalf, one related to investigators’ discovery a photograph of Pearl with two high school prospects at a cookout. And when questioned where the picture was taken, Pearl fell clueless, claiming that he had no idea where the picture was taken. Turns out, they were in a place that he knows quite well actually…His own house. The blatant dishonesty was topped with not one violation, but a total of ten which made his firing not something that too many people are dwelling on. Pretty clear that he brought that on his own self. Regardless of the poor choices he made that put is career at stake, one thing for sure that can not be contested is what Pearl did during his years at Tennessee.

Don’t let Tennessee’s early exit from this year’s NCAA tournament fool you because it was not by far a reflection of the quality of the program. Under Pearl’s leadership, the program made a great turn around, earning their rights back as a competitive ball club. He successfully led the Vols to the NCAA tournament all six years that he was with the program and left with an overall 145-61 record. Very impressive Mr. Pearl.

But back to the matter at hand though, when you fail to follow the rules, the axe will shortly await you. As of yet, the NCAA has not made their final ruling so further penalties may go against both Pearl and the school.

Now that Bruce Pearl’s reign with the Volunteers has come to an end, the question remains: What will be the future of this program? Will they continue to make their appearances in the Big Dance and hold on to their rep as a competitive bball squad? Or will they slowly fall into a slump?

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