Auburn hires ex-Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl to lead downtrodden basketball program

Published January 08, 2015

Auburn has hired former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl to lead a struggling basketball program.

The school announced the hiring on Tuesday of the charismatic coach, who remains under a show-cause penalty from the NCAA.

Tennessee fired Pearl in March 2011 after six seasons at Tennessee in the wake of an NCAA investigation. He led the Volunteers to the NCAA tournament in each of his six seasons.

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs calls Pearl "a proven winner who will bring energy and excitement to our program" and says, "We have raised the bar for Auburn basketball.

The Tigers haven't been to the NCAA tournament since 2003, the longest drought of any Southeastern Conference program.

Auburn fired Tony Barbee hours after a first-round SEC tournament loss.

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