Bruce Pearl and the Auburn men’s basketball program is in the middle of a great season, and one that has plenty of potential for the rest of March, and possibly into April.

ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum made his regular Monday appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” to reflect on how far Pearl and Auburn have come since he left ESPN after parting ways with Tennessee. And then there was another incident at Auburn where he could have been forced out.

“Well it’s historic, Cole, because this is not how it’s been in the past,” Finebaum said. “Other than a couple of very brief moments in time, and there have been those. But for the most part Auburn has been a cellar dweller. What I find most interesting is going back 8 years ago, when Auburn hired Bruce Pearl, he was really a pariah, in many ways. The reason he left Tennessee wasn’t because he blatantly robbed a bank. He just wasn’t honest about a very minor rules violation that had he been honest about, it would have resulted in maybe a 2 or 3-game suspension for the player. It turned out to be almost one of the worst show causes we’ve ever seen. He was sent to purgatory for 3 years meaning he went to ESPN and made money.”

Finebaum also credits the Auburn administration for bringing Pearl in when it did.

“It was a gutsy call to bring him back and look what we have,” Finebaum said. “Not only that, but the fact that he nearly got fired 3 years ago, again, when all that controversy came up again with (Chuck) Person. And the school stood by him, they gritted their teeth, they found out that he was really not to blame, and here we are on the cusp of one of the greatest seasons in Auburn history.