Bruce Pearl, the current coach of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was named the coach of men’s college basketball of Tennessee. This is a good move for Tennessee and the coach, but there’s a little more to the story.
Before Bruce Pearl made the move to Wisconsin-Milwaukee he was the coach of Southern Indiana a division II school. This would look like a nice career path, but he took a detour.
In 1990 Bruce Pearl made a recording of a phone conversation between a recruit and Illinois. Bruce Pearl turned that conversation over to the NCAA and Illinois suffered sanctions. Supposedly Illinois offered $80,000 and a Chevy Blazer to a recruit. At the time Bruce Pearl was an Assistant Coach of Iowa.
So, 15 years ago he was an Assistant Coach of a Division 1, prime time school and it’s taken him this long to get back. I wonder if he was blackballed for his actions?