Bruce Pearl, King Warbird of Lee County, would be a fool to even consider leaving the magical dreamworld he has created from thin air that floats above Auburn Arena.
Everyone in basketball understands this.
The Auburn administration knows it, too.
The NCAA, which doesn’t know anything, ever, would probably consider throwing a parade through the streets of Tuscaloosa if Pearl willingly gave up his kingdom amid those untouchable Auburn clouds.
Rest easy, Auburn, for Pearl is not a fool. In fact, he is a pretty smart guy of notable experience. That is why, on days like Thursday, when Pearl’s name was once again linked to the University of Louisville, Auburn fans should be happy, and maybe even do a little pregaming before the weekend.
Auburn plays a home game against Oklahoma on Saturday, Alabama visits on Tuesday, and the fantastical auburn-hued sky, for once, is not beginning to fall just as things are getting good for the Tigers.
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Pearl isn’t suddenly thinking about going to Louisville, y’all, just as his team is finally ranked No.1 for the first time in school history and the students are camping out before games. It’s late January. Auburn basketball has captured something uniquely special both on the court and among its fans and alumni. The only thing Pearl is thinking about is winning a national championship. If anything, this latest message-board fodder should only be viewed as a signal that Pearl and Auburn are trying to take care of every possible distraction now so that his team can focus all of its energy on winning the SEC in March, and earning a No.1 seed.
The rise of Auburn basketball is one of the best stories in sports. No one is letting that walk out the door to Louisville, a school that fired legendary coach Rick Pitino amid the FBI’s investigation into college basketball.
Auburn was part of that investigation, too, and Pearl kept his job. Now the rumor is that he’s thinking about leaving for the very same program that reflexively fired one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history? See how ridiculous that sounds?
Pearl doesn’t need to prove himself by going to Louisville. He’s the most popular man in Auburn, and King Warbird is picking off Kentucky just fine these days from his perch above the Plains.
Auburn’s coach is in line for a monster contract extension from a school that deals in desperate cash by nature and has desperately wanted something like this dream team for decades.
Auburn is the envy of the entire country…in basketball. That’s getting locked down. When Pearl gets to the table, he’ll be able to name his price. John Calipari makes over $8 million a year at Kentucky. Pearl might be worth more to Auburn.
Auburn basketball paying for football coaching buyouts … crazy days.
Pearl is about to be one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball (and maybe the highest), and he will be worth every penny of it. With a team like this, and with boosters peacocking through the heavens, it’s only smart to get the deal done sooner rather than later.
Louisville fired its coach this week, which set off this latest rumor mill, but Pearl ($3.98 million per year) was already making more than Chris Mack ($3.81 million). How much Pearl would be worth to a school like Louisville is not the same thought exercise as how much Pearl is worth to Auburn.
Put it this way. He might be twice as valuable to Auburn as football coach Bryan Harsin, and Harsin makes $5 million per year.
Auburn’s return on investment with Pearl is only just beginning. Every game is like a recruitment video for future students. Every campout is a memory for a future booster. Every day that Auburn is ranked No.1 in the country sets a new record.
They’re hanging a banner for former Auburn coach Sonny Smith on Saturday, and he deserves it, but Pearl has already accomplished more at Auburn than one of the program’s immortalized legends. That tells you everything you need to know about how valuable Pearl is to the Plainsmen, but something Pearl said on Thursday sounded like a hint about what’s to come.
During his news conference previewing the game against Oklahoma, Pearl told a story about Smith visiting one of Pearl’s coaching clinics back in the 90s. What Smith built at Auburn was incredible, Pearl said, before adding that “what we’re getting started” have been some pretty good times, too.
Auburn is a basketball school now, and so this is no time to fool around.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.