Justice is Finally Done - Bruce Pearl is Fired!

One day after the end of the Illini basketball season (I'll have more to say about that soon), we Illini fans with older memories received some fantastic news. In the last six months, Bruce Pearl has had his name dragged through the mud courtesy of an NCAA investigation, lost $1.5 million in salary, was suspended from coaching for part of the SEC portion of Tennessee's schedule, and been humiliated in a first-round NCAA tournament loss. Now comes the cherry on the icing on the cake - Bruce Pearl has been fired as Tennessee coach for his unethical behavior (although the AP story still gets its history wrong - here's the correct version of what happened between Pearl and the Illini).

It's good to see that Pearl finally got what he deserved, and even though it took over 20 years, I'm glad to see Lou Henson and Jimmy Collins are vindicated, and maybe now Henson will get what he deserves - a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. And this is probably the best way to express Illini fans' feelings about you, Bruce Pearl:

L'shanah Tovah!

I'm not sure what's in store for me during Jewish calendar year 5771, but so far, it's off to a great start, and it keeps getting better. For Bruce Pearl, not so much:

"Parrish goes on to report that Pearl lied to NCAA assistant director of enforcement Kristen Matha when asked about the in-home event. Parrish's sources say the NCAA already had photographic evidence of Pearl and Craft inside his home at the time, which, if true, means Pearl was busted right away and not found out later."

It's ironic - not just in an Alanis Morisette way; it really is ironic - that Pearl, who got the Illini into hot water with the NCAA by (illegally) recording a conversation may now be undone by someone photographing him making illegal visits to a recruit.

Keep the good news coming!

Where's The Fire?

Apparently there isn't going to be much fire coming from Knoxville. Bruce Pearl admitted giving "misleading and incorrect information" (i.e. "lying") to the NCAA during their investigation of the Tennessee basketball program, and as a result his bosses slapped him with a punishment so the NCAA would get off their backs. Pearl will have to forfeit $1.5 million in salary over the next five years and cannot recruit off-campus for a year. And if you look really closely, you can see the marks where the ruler hit his knuckles.

So let me see if I've got this straight - 21 years ago, Pearl lied to the NCAA investigators about Deon Thomas. Now, he lies to the NCAA investigators about his own program. And yet people come rushing out to defend him. I especially love this quote from the cited ESPN article:

"Pearl recorded Thomas, who by then has committed to Illinois, admitting that he had received a car from an Illinois assistant and turned the tape over to the NCAA. Though the NCAA never was able to back up Pearl's claim, the subsequent investigation revealed other ridiculously minor violations and Illinois was handed a one-year postseason ban because the NCAA would have looked foolish if they had investigated Illinois for a year and not punished them in some way."

(Italics mine. Oh, and some of the other quoted material may represent my interpretations of these events.)

In other words, Pearl's allegations were completely bogus, but he's still a good guy because he was a "whistleblower". Don't get me wrong - I think whistleblowers provide a great service to society, but only if they're telling the truth. If you're a lying whistleblower, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Remember how Kelvin Sampson took Oklahoma to the Final Four? No, you don't, because now when you think of him you think of how he drove the Indiana basketball program off a cliff with his illegal and unethical behavior. So let's hope that even if this is Pearl's only actual punishment, the incident helps change the perception of Bruce Pearl from wronged man to wrongdoer. After twenty-plus years of waiting for vengeance, that would still be pretty sweet.

There's Smoke. Now Let's See Some Fire.

Oh, please, let this be true! According to ESPN's report of a potential investigation into Bruce Pearl's Tennessee basketball program:

With its football program already under an NCAA probe, the University of Tennessee is facing an investigation into its men's basketball program.

NCAA representatives are checking, in part, excessive telephone calls and the use of unauthorized phones to contact recruits, sources told ESPN.com Thursday.

It would be perfect retribution if Bruce Pearl would get into hot water with the NCAA over telephone calls, considering that his illegal recording of a phone conversation with Illini recruit Deon Thomas helped set the Illini basketball program back for a decade and unfairly tarnished the reputations of Jimmy Collins and Lou Henson (this may be a reason why Henson has not yet been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame). Let's hope there's something to this story.

Thank you, Jimmy Collins

Overlooked in all the hubbub over Lou Piniella's retirement announcement, UIC basketball coach Jimmy Collins also announced his retirement yesterday. While Collins had some success at UIC, leading the school to its only NCAA tournament berths, he should be best remembered for his work as one of Lou Henson's assistant coaches during the 1980's and 1990's. Collins was the key recruiter for several members of the "Flyin' Illini", one of the best and most exciting teams in school history. Even after Bruce Pearl falsely accused him of cheating to land those players, Collins handled the charges with dignity. If the world worked, it would have been Collins who parlayed his mid-major success into a BCS conference job, not Pearl.

Enjoy your retirement, Coach.