Bruce Pearl has on-air gaffe, calls Iowa legends Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder by wrong names
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Bruce Pearl has been going to bat for his son, Steven, and Auburn to be in the running for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament despite a disappointing regular season, while arguing that undefeated Miami (Oh.) doesn’t belong if it doesn’t win the MAC Tournament.
On Sunday, Pearl was at the CBS Sports desk ahead of the Big Ten women’s championship game in Indianapolis between second-seeded Iowa and top-seeded UCLA, where he made quite the, let’s say, “blunder”.
The Hawkeyes, in their first year under Jan Jensen in 2024-25 after the retirement of longtime head coach Lisa Bluder, finished 23-11, tied for eighth in the B1G, and were bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the second round after back-to-back national championship game appearances. In Jensen’s second season, things have looked much better: Iowa came into Sunday at 23-5 and as the nation’s No. 2 team.
The Hawkeyes’ successes a couple of years ago will go down as a landmark achievement for Bluder and the program’s greatest player, Caitlin Clark. If only Pearl was able to get their names right.
Take a listen:
That’s not going to go down too well with viewers! We’re not talking about a mid-major coach and a star player having a breakout season. We’re talking a future Hall of Fame coach and a generational talent who’s one of the most recognized basketball players in the world.
To his credit, Pearl corrected himself on Clark immediately after. But he’ll certainly be pacing himself in the future to avoid similar mixups.
Kalshi is taking action on predictions to win the Women’s NCAA Tournament!
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
