Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, center, heads to the visitor’s locker room after arriving at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., for an NCAA basketball game against Tennessee, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. Pearl faces his former team Tennessee, where he coached for six seasons and remains a popular figure despite getting fired amid an NCAA investigation.(AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, Adam Lau)
AP
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is coaching again this season after the removal of his three-year show-cause penalty for NCAA violations stemming from his time as head coach at Tennessee. The Tigers gave Pearl a six-year contract this summer to help rebuild their program.
As SEC counterparts, it was only a matter of time before Pearl returned to his former stomping grounds with his new team. That finally happened on Saturday with Auburn visiting Tennessee. Pearl was greeted warmly with cheers and applause from Volunteer faithful as he entered Thompson-Boling Arena.
[embed]
[/embed]
Pearl was 145-61 during his six seasons with the Volunteers and made the NCAA Tournament every year, twice making the Sweet 16 and making an Elite Eight appearance as well.
(Video credit: AL.com)