Bruce Pearl Steps Down After Legendary Run at Auburn:-
About college basketball because sure all of you know that Bruce Pearl has officially stepped down and passed the torch to Steven Pearl as the new head coach of Auburn basketball. About BP retiring and Steven Pearl as the new head coach for the 2026 Auburn basketball season. BP, what a decade of work. What an 11 years at Auburn. Truly the goat of Auburn basketball.
Jay Jacobs — The Man Who Took the Chance:-
And what a run it was. What a what a run it was. And you know, he was hired in 2014 and Jay Jacobs was the athletic director for the Auburn Tigers at that ti. And think that’s where we got to start today is we got to give our shout out to Jay Jacobs and thank him for going out and taking the chance on Bruce Pearl. This was a guy that had been expelled from the SEC. He got into the violations at Tennessee and he wasn’t wanted in the SEC any longer. He was a cheater, you know, and and Not many people wanted to take a chance on him. Don’t want Auburn to just be a football school. Want Auburn to be good in basketball. want Auburn to be relevant in basketball.
Bruce Pearl Made Promises — And Kept Every One of Them:-
It’s going to be a little rocky at first, but promise will co hang banners that you will never forget. promise Auburn will win championships. And he lived up to every one of those promises. He did that. He brought guys into Auburn, lottery picks into the NBA. He went to two Final Fours. He showed us things that we had never seen before. The all-ti winningest coach in Auburn basketball history. He had all the support from Charles Barkley. He he he made promises and he lived up to every single one of them.
The GOAT of Auburn Basketball:-
And not just you see Jared Harper and Bryce Brown and and Austin Wy and all these all these cats on there and they’re saying, “Coach, not only did you help in basketball, you helped in life, you helped beco a better man. grateful for being a part of a couple of those wins, but thank you for helping go further in life. think that’s another side of it that we got to look at. think he’s great, man. BP, aweso. What a job, man. What a job. the semi-final run in the SEC tournant in 2015, think that’s got to be shouted out. think that’s where it all started. That’s where his vision, you really start to see it take off because we knew we weren’t competitive.
Turning Points: From Doormat to Dominance:-
But seeing how we survived and made it through up to that point was was really fun. And and you see in 2016 he ended the losing streak to Kentucky. That’s kind of where you felt , hey, look, if we can beat Kentucky, we can really get to the top of the Southeastern Conference and and we felt it was coming really soon, right? In 2018, it was that regular season title. Anthony Mackmore broke his leg that year and you really felt if he wouldn’t have broke his leg, Auburn would have had a little shot to make a deeper run than what they did. They made it to the round of 32, got blown out by Clemson. But if if we if that wouldn’t have happened, we would have had a a decent shot, you know, to make the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
The Championship That Slipped Away:-
But in 2019, he bounced back with the SEC tournant title. That team got hot at the end of the year. Bryce Brown, man, he could he could shoot the lights out of it. Could could shoot it from the parking lot. And think what’s great about that 2019 team is you get into the SEC tournant, you blow Tennessee out in the in the tournant title ga. You get into the you get into the NCA tournant as a five seed and you got the 12 in New xico State. Everybody rembers how Auburn really dominated that ga, but New xico State made a second half run and they were only up by one. Daniel Puroy running down the court and the cara was on him as they were going to break and he was just cheesing from ear to ear.
Recruiting NBA Talent and Reaching New Heights:-
Once again, Kentucky had your nber all season long. You couldn’t beat them. And you get in the Elite 8, you’re down Cha and you still find a way to win in overti.Without one of your best players, without what a top 20 draft pick in the NBA draft due to a torn ACL in the Sweet 16, you still find a way to beat a team that you hadn’t beat all year, to move to your first ever Final Four. And there it was, man. And we look, we know we got rookked in the Final Four. truly feel if Cha wouldn’t have got hurt, this would have been a national championship mont for Bruce Pearl just because of the way that team was playing. and still should have won that Virginia ga, but unfortunately that’s how that’s how the cookie crbles and it just didn’t go Auburn’s way. 2022, you had the regular season title. And the thing about that team is yes, the guard play wasn’t great, but look, you went and got Walker Kesler from North Carolina. You went and got Jabari Smith to co to your program and at the ti that was the best season ever for Auburn basketball. And it was the first you ever got to nber one in the polls. And that was sothing where you look on the internet and you see Jabari Smith on the on the magazines and the and the slam edition and all this stuff, man.
Year-by-Year Growth: A Program Rebuilt from the Ground Up:-
And , you got beat out in the second round by Miami. , you didn’t have the guard play, but you could see the talent that Auburn was bringing in and the lottery picks with Javari going nber three overall and then you had Walker Kesler going out to Utah and things that, man. So, you you had the talent, right? and you just kind of felt Auburn was going to eventually get them one. And then in 2024 you had the conference title where you you won the SEC tournant championship. You blew out you blew out Florida in that and then unfortunately you lose in the first round of the NCA tournant to Yale. But that team was outstanding. They just shot themselves in the foot in that Yale And then 2025, the regular season SEC champions, man went 15 and three in SEC play was the greatest Auburn basketball season ever. you made the run to the final four, beat Michigan in the Sweet 16, beat Michigan State in the Elite Eight. and you know, if it wasn’t for a Walter Clayton masterpiece, you might have won a national championship.
Final Seasons and Near-Misses:-
And so Bruce was he was on the cusp of that of that natty. Just couldn’t never quite get over the hp.But wanted to show a trajectory of what happened in Auburn n’s basketball while he was here. You know, obviously in 2015, about how Auburn, we weren’t great, right? You could see flashes, you could see the coaching happening on the court. We weren’t great. think we won 14 gas that year. And then you just fast forward to 2018 and in a three-year span, 26 and 8. 2019, they went 30 and 10. 2020, 25 and six. By the way, that 2020 team could have been another candidate for a final four run. saac Aoro leading the way once again, another lottery pick. Think he went fifth overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers. so, and then 2021, we know what happened there. No need to discuss that. Share Cooper went through all that crap. 13- 14. 2022, he bounced back, , with Jamari Smith and Walker Kesler went 28-6. 2023 went 20 21- 2024 went 27-8. And then in 2025, he went 32 and6.
A New Era Begins: Steven Pearl Ready to Lead:-
Think Bruce Pearl had been think he had been setting up for this all along and preparing Stephen to take over this job. And that is the reason why you saw Stephen getting to coach so so halves and Maui and things that. And he got to coach the believe it was in 2021. That there was opportunities there for Stephen to call sets and maybe he coach a half here or sothing that or or or you know Mike coach a half here and there was just things to prepare for this to co right and you had kind of been hearing the the murmurss the smoke had been lit for a little while and so what they always say with there’s smoke there’s fire and today it happened to set a blaze and so you know shout out to this family look my honest opinion think Stephen’s going to do great He’s been around the ga for his entire life. He He’s been right there next to BP side.
What’s Next for Auburn Basketball?:-
He knows how a practice is ran. He knows how to recruit. He’s been on the the transfer portal. You know, he went on the next round live during the NCA tournant, was ing about how they were having to adjust with the portal and then playing an NCA tournant ga. And so, he is very well accustod to this lifestyle. He’s accustod to this coaching job. he is ready to put boots on the ground and take this thing by the grasp and and run with it. really do believe that. So, we will have a new head basketball coach for the Auburn Tigers in the 2025 2026 season and his na is Steven Pearl. So, Bruce passed the torch. Stephen is ready. Let know in the comnts how you feel about this. Think Auburn loses a lot of transfer portal guys and all this? Honestly think with Stephen Pearl signing a five-year deal that this had been in the works. Whether they you that or not or whatever or where they get out on Twitter and say, “Oh, well, he had only been, you know, at practice last week, practicing he was ready to go for this season.” get all that, but a five-year deal s that this had been in the works for a little while and this was all planned out. And so know don’t believe that the players, they might have not have been notified, but think they knew what was coming Bruce Pearl, you’re the goat of Auburn basketball.