SPORTS

Bruce Pearl: Show-cause penalty has cost Auburn recruits

James Crepea
Montgomery Advertiser
Bruce Pearl says his NCAA show-cause penalty has cost Auburn recruits.
  • Pearl%27s NCAA show-cause penalty ends in three months
  • Auburn has landed three commitments since Pearl and his staff have arrived

AUBURN – Bruce Pearl's NCAA show-cause penalty, which has three months remaining, has cost Auburn recruits, according to the new Tigers coach.

"We have lost prospects that we've recruited," Pearl said, "and we have been unable to get prospects to visit because they know they can't meet me, talk to me, see me and I'm not part of the recruiting experience."

Auburn elected not to appeal Pearl's three-year show-cause penalty, which expires on Aug. 24, last month.

His hire brought a renewed energy and enthusiasm to a beleaguered program, but there have been missed opportunities on the recruiting trail as a result of Pearl not being allowed to take part in any recruiting activities.

"Could I take full advantage in recruiting, of the momentum that my hiring brought? No I couldn't and it's cost us a couple of really good players," Pearl said. "But that's OK. That's part of a show-cause.

"I made the mistake, I got penalized, I'm serving the penalty. Because Auburn has embraced me, she has to serve it with me now. I hate that for her. I don't like it for her; I want to bring good things."

Pearl has brought a lot of new business to Auburn's box office and has been on the road meeting with various community groups across the state as he attempts to make further inroads, particularly in Birmingham, Montgomery and Atlanta.

"It's been incredible," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said of the increase in basketball ticket sales. "The people that have bought tickets in the past, they're quickly purchasing theirs."

That's before fans even know Auburn's full non-conference slate, which Pearl is "two games" away from completing. The Tigers will open against Pearl's former team, Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

While the show-cause has been a burden for Pearl, his staff has been able to land three commitments, including signing McGill-Toolen's T.J. Lang this week.

"(The show-cause penalty) been an obstacle but it hasn't been a road block," Pearl said, without mentioning any players by name. "My staff has done a terrific job."

Assistants Tony Jones, Chuck Person and Harris Adler, as well as director of basketball operations Todd Golden and assistant strength and conditioning coach Steven Pearl, for a short initial period, have also landed commitments from junior college forward Cinmeon Bowers and New Mexico State guard K.C. Ross-Miller, who will both transfer. Both Bowers and Ross-Miller have not been officially announced but are expected to be with the program by the fall.

Pearl said his assistants have heard from recruits that him not being available for official visits, phone calls, text messages and direct exchanges on social media has been used against Auburn by other staffs.

"We've had kids who it becomes 'How can you even visit there? You can't even talk to the head coach,'" Pearl said. "Of course, there's been a lot of that."

When a player is on campus for a visit, Pearl is not even in town, in order to prevent any chance of wrongdoing.

There have been over 30 AAU basketball camps held around the country since mid-April and Pearl's staff will continue to be on the trail as some premier camps are held in June and July.

Pearl already has his eyes set on Aug. 24, the first day he can recruit again.

Conveniently, Auburn scheduled an "Elite Camp" on campus that day for players in the eighth grade through high school seniors.

"It's a good day," Pearl said. "It will probably be a pretty emotional day for me to be able to put my eyes on them and see if we can get caught up."