USA - Pearl of a coach rebuilding Vols

KNOXVILLE (NCAA) - Bruce Pearl is not your archetypal college cheerleader.

He’s 46, a little chubby, and has a few too many grey hairs to be trying out for the spirit squads.

But the University of Tennessee coach is willing to do most things to get behind his team and promote the Volunteers’ basketball programme.

So when the Lady Vols were playing Duke last month, no one should have been too surprised to see Pearl bare-chested and daubed in orange bodypaint, forming the V as he and his players spelled out "Go Vols" at the front of the student section.

"Don’t ever give me a dare," Pearl told me about that night.

"I’m a man of my word."

Two weeks before the game, Pearl had been on a radio show with women’s coach Pat Summitt discussing the visit of the top-ranked Blue Devils.

Summitt had recalled how - in 33 years as a head coach - she had never known an atmosphere as intimidating as that created by the ’Cameron Crazies’ at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Well," Pearl says, "I thought we as Tennessee fans have got to do something to do that to Duke when they come to Thompson-Boling Arena."

He made the promise on air that, if his team could win their next two games, he would be there wearing a giant V on his chest.

The Vols split those two games, leaving fans guessing as to whether Pearl would show or not.

"They sold thousands of extra tickets," Pearl recalls, "and there was this big debate going on - will he? Won’t he?"

Well, he did. Pearl earned several column inches in the national sporting press, even though he left after the pre-game festivities for a shower before returning to watch the game in the student section with his son.

"I couldn’t have known it would attract so much attention and the last thing I wanted to do was distract from the game, so when all of the pre-game announcements came on, I snuck out," Pearl says.

Although the Lady Vols lost that game, only their 17th ever defeat at the Thompson-Boling Arena since it opened in 1987, Summitt has promised to do something - albeit unlikely to involve bodypaint - to repay Pearl.

This week, the Volunteers are running the "Paint It Orange" promotion - no doubt inspired by Pearl’s actions - so perhaps Summitt’s response will come in Tuesday’s game against border rivals Kentucky.

Pearl doesn’t know when it might come, but is sure of one thing.

"Coach Summitt is not going to be outgunned," he says.

Pearl’s unusual style was famous before the bodypaint however. Since arriving in Knoxville, he has been known to roam around campus, getting up on chairs in halls to encourage students to come to games and cheer on their team.

Last year, a video emerged of him doing an impression of the Incredible Hulk to celebrate a win at Kentucky.

In the locker room after the game, Pearl threw his famous bright orange jacket - the one he wears only for Kentucky and Vanderbilt rivalry games - aside and then ripped his shirt off and began flexing his muscles to the delight of his players.

But it wasn’t pre-planned, Pearl says, he was just trying to protect that jacket.

"They were ready with the Gatorade," he says, "and I spent way too much on that jacket to have them cover it in the stuff. So I took it off, and then I thought, you know, this is a nice tie, so that went too and it went on.

"I don’t know, I amaze myself sometimes. I guess I grew up in the 60s when we were all streaking."

Pearl’s antics are not universally popular, however.

Some of his rival Southeastern Conference coaches have been less than impressed by the Tennessee coach, but that is not something Pearl will let bother him.

"I don’t want to do anything that might embarrass my profession," he says.

"I know it’s something most coaches wouldn’t do, but I’m a college coach on a college campus.

"What I did was something fun with my players that we’re all going to remember for a long time.

"(Criticism) doesn’t really bother me. I understand my way of doing things isn’t for everybody, but I’m not trying to be a showman, I’m just being me."

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings has been among the most critical, but Pearl’s players got the last word in Saturday’s 84-57 rout of the Commodores, a result that will almost certainly knock Vanderbilt out of the top 25.

Pearl, wearing that orange jacket, will have been dodging the Gatorade in the locker room once again.

Last week, Tennessee also beat Louisiana State, coached by another Pearl critic, John Brady.

But there is method to Pearl’s madness. He needs to do it just to get Tennessee basketball noticed again.

The order of priorities for sports in Knoxville is simple. Football, football, women’s basketball, then some more football.

Pearl understands this. The 107,000-seater Neyland Stadium casts a shadow which covers the Thompson-Boling Arena, where his team plays on a court named after Summitt, who leads all NCAA coaches with 935 career wins.

But despite a crowded landscape, Pearl also sees a place for the men’s hoops team.

"All of the sports here are important," he says. "We compete for titles in a lot of sports, but for the first time since 'Ernie and Bernie', Tennessee basketball is relevant again," referrring to star duo Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld who starred for the Volunteers in the 1970s.

"We’re not there yet, but we’re gaining on it."

Recalling the 'Ernie and Bernie Show' seems particularly relevant. They played under coach Ray Mears, who was also known for his flamboyant style, which extended to riding a unicycle around in pre-game warm-ups.

While there is no doubt that Tennessee is football country, Pearl is adamant there is equal potential for basketball.

"The Lady Vols are number one in the country for attendance, and that shows people here in Tennessee love their basketball," he says.

"We’re in a position here at Tennessee where we can finish in the top five in attendance for football, women’s basketball and basketball.

"Last year, (the men’s team) was in the top five, and we were number one in terms of an increase over last year.

"That shows there is no limit on what this programme can do."

Tennessee’s arch-rivals, Florida, have proven that you can compete in both basketball and football, winning unprecedented national titles in both sports in the same year.

"That’s right where we want to be," says Pearl, without hesitation.

He made an encouraging start, taking a team predicted to finish fifth or sixth in their division to the SEC East title last year, sweeping eventual national champions Florida en route, and winning every road game in the division.

The second season has been tougher. Pearl has a much younger team, with four of his top eight freshmen, and an injury to All-America candidate Chris Lofton left the Volunteers short-handed right in the middle of the campaign.

Throughout his career at Division II Southern Indiana and mid-major UW-Milwaukee, Pearl’s teams have always finished in the top two in their division, but the coach knows that will be a "big ask" this season.

"The SEC is as strong right now as it’s ever been," he says. "You’ve got 11 teams competing for who knows how many NCAA Tournament berths. I don’t know how many we’ll get.

"It was six last year, I think we might get more, but even so there’s going to be three or four very good teams - maybe Tennessee - who will not be going to the Big Dance.

"I just want the focus to be not on the end result but on the process. We’ve got to focus on getting better. This is a young team, and that’s what are focus has to be."

And so the challenge goes on for Pearl, trying to keep the school in the thoughts of recruitment targets by whatever means he can.

Last year’s successes have got the Volunteers’ plenty more television time this season which helps, but Pearl tries to sell young players on his philosophy.

"My teams have always led their leagues in scoring. It won’t happen this year, but in the past we have, and kids like to play that way."

Kids also like to have little fun. Pearl has got that covered too.

Ian Parker
FIBA