Morning Wrap: Bruce Pearl and the Legendary Shots

Yes, the trick shot/YouTube business is apparently thriving. We already know about the "Dude Perfect" guys and have posted several of their videos.

There is another group that does similar things only with multiple sports, not just basketball.

They call themselves "Legendary Shots" and they spent some time Wednesday at Auburn University.

The group hit the Auburn Arena running, dropping their version of the crazy shots from all over the gym.

Watch this video, and check out their unscripted/scripted guest: Auburn Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl.

Pearl (about 1:00 in) takes the boys to school, goes up to the upper deck and promptly drains his own trick shot.

Nice!

Bruce Pearl Crashes Lecture Hall at Auburn: Complete With Entrance Music

((ht: cbssports.com))

Anything to get a butt in a seat, right?

We give nothing but props to new Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, he is a master at drumming up grass roots support for his teams.

He proved it with some crazy ideas when he was at Tennessee which included going shirtless and painting himself orange.

Pearl didn't do that at Auburn--yet.

He's got his work cut out for him at a place and a conference where hoops are pretty much an afterthought.

With that in mind, check out what happens during this elaborate prank/skit at ironically a college lecture about marketing and branding.

The build is a bit slow as an odd person or two wanders into the room seemingly lost. Then about 2 minutes in, everybody storms the doors, cheerleaders, Aubie, the band--everyone.

Intro completed, that's when Pearl walks in and gets his ovation.

Hey, why not, it works for wrestlers :)

Well played Auburn, well played...

Bruce Pearl Is Back In SEC, New Auburn Head Coach

Bruce Pearl

Auburn has made the big splash in the coaching carousel hiring Bruce Pearl as the Tigers new head basketball coach.

"I'm humbled and blessed to be back in the game I love." Pearl said.  "I don't know how long it will take, but it's time to rebuild the Auburn basketball program, and bring it to a level of excellence so many of the other teams on campus enjoy."

"From the moment I met Coach Pearl and heard his vision for our basketball program, it was clear he’s the right man at the right time for Auburn," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said.   "Coach Pearl is a proven winner who will bring energy and excitement to our program. We have raised the bar for Auburn basketball, and I could not be more excited for our student-athletes and our future under Coach Pearl’s leadership. I know he agrees with me — it’s time to win."

Pearl is still serving his three year show cause which expires in August.  In the meantime Pearl won't be able to recruit this summer.

Pearl definitely has a reclamation project at Auburn.  In four years with Tony Barbee as

head coach the Tigers were 48-75 and 18-50 in the SEC.

Here's Pearl discussing the violations with Dan LeBatard
((HT: ESPN))


The three-year show-cause penalty expires on August 23rd.

In 2008, Pearl hosted three recruits, including current Ohio State star Aaron Craft at his home for a cookout – a secondary violation – and then lied about the cookout to the NCAA, turning a secondary violation into a major violation.

One of the larger points of contention was that two of the people on the committee that delivered the show-cause penalty to Pearl, Dave Didion, had to probably approve this idea and hire.

From Joel Erickson's al.com piece:

Dave Didion, who returned to Auburn as assistant athletic director of compliance last year, was the lead investigator on Pearl's case, according to a source, and the school feels that a strong compliance department led by Didion and compliance director Rich McGlynn will be able to guide Pearl well on compliance issues.

Didion also signed off on Auburn's pursuit of Pearl, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The HQ will give Auburn this... they'll certainly win the press conference...

Now, just how much patience will AD Jay Jacobs have with this rebuilding process...

And Bruce Pearl was excited when he hit the ground...
((HT: Vine via gray_lane))

Shield Your Eyes, Dickie V's Friends Impersonate Dickie V

((HT: ESPN Front Row))

Chris Fowler sounds like Rodney Dangerfield...
Mike Ditka does it the best way...

Jon Gruden sounds like Jon Gruden
Bruce Pearl nails it...

But Dick Vitale is celebrating 35 years at the Mother Ship...

Here's the roast from the inside out...


Would you like to get your time back...???

TOO LATE!!!

Pearl, Assistants Get Show-Cause, Vols Get Failure To Monitor

The hammer has officially dropped on former Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl- three years of a show-cause penalty while his assistants during his tenure each get one-year penalties.

Tony Jones, Steve Forbes and Jason Shay all got ones according to the full report released by the Committee On Infractions. The failure to monitor the program charge translates into a two-year probation through 2013.

Pearl violated the bump rule and failed to disclose the bump during an investigation.

The football team also had 12 violations- all minor, but still significant- during Lane Kiffin's one year in Knoxville before he was almost burned at the stake by Vols fans who congregated outside the Athletics office during his resignation presser.

The NCAA was perturbed, but didn't do anything else to the football program or Cuonzo Martin's basketball program.

The whole report is hyah, thanks to our friends at WATE-TV...

Kiffin released a statement and sayeth quote...

"I'm very grateful to the NCAA, the committee on infractions and its chairman, Dennis Thomas, for a very fair and thorough process. I'm also very grateful that we were able to accurately and fairly present the facts in our case and that no action was taken against us. I'm pleased that the NCAA based its decision on the facts and not on perception. I'm also very grateful that the Tennessee football program was cleared of any wrongdoing. As I have said before, we always have been committed to following NCAA rules and bylaws both at Tennessee and now at USC, and we always will be. Now that this has reached its conclusion, I am looking forward to continuing to prepare our team for the upcoming season."

More when we know more...

PM UPDATE: We know more...
Steve Phillips at WBIR-TV has the lead in team coverage...