In a shocking development across the college basketball world, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is deciding to hang it up after 33 years as a head coach.
Pearl was the head coach at Auburn for 11 years, taking his Tigers to the Final Four twice. His first Final Four appearance came in 2019, in what was a controversial ending against Virginia where Ty Jerome got away with a double dribble. Pearl, with Johni Broome led the Tigers to a Final Four appearance last season against Florida, but the Gators proved to be too much.
Pearl retiring means that his son, Steven Pearl will take charge as the next head coach for Auburn. Even though Pearl has been involved in the program since 2017, it marks a question on if the Aggies can take advantage at Pearl's retirement.
Bucky McMillan might be in the middle to snag Bruce Pearl's recruits
We know how much of a genius Bucky McMillan has been in the recruiting world since taking over as the top chief of Texas A&M basketball. McMillan being able to jump on some of Pearl's players could be something to watch.
We've seen McMillan jump on key guys like Pop Issacs, Mackenzie Mgbako and Federiko Federiko. It won't be surprising to see him make the move to go for Auburn commits, or even current players— with their head coach retiring, the transfer portal window is now open.
This isn't any disrespect to Bruce's son, it's a matter of young amateurs making a decision to play for a certain guy when that won't be the case anymore. We've seen how some high school football players reversed on their decision to play for Alabama when Nick Saban made the move to retire.
This retirement isn't just shaking the landscape of the SEC, it rocks the whole college basketball world. Pearl was a legend at Auburn, and the program will no doubt look different without him.
Legendary coaches like Saban, Jim Larrañaga and Tony Bennett all retired because this generation of college sports is different than five years ago. Pearl on the other hand, may just end up flirting with a Senate run.