Steven Pearl reflects on time at Tennessee: ‘It shaped the man I am today’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Steven Pearl is looking forward to Auburn‘s trip to Tennessee on Saturday, his first visit to his alma mater since becoming the Tigers’ head coach.
“There’s so many things that happened at Tennessee that have shaped my life to what it is today, so I’m eternally grateful,” Pearl said.
Pearl walked on to the Volunteers program in 2007 while his father, Bruce, was the head coach. He was part of the team that made the Sweet 16 in 2008 and the Elite Eight two years later.
While his father’s tenure on Rocky Top ended in controversy, the younger Pearl looks at his time at the university as a highlight. He mentioned that if he hadn’t been at Tennessee, he’d have never met his wife, Brittany, while in Nashville seeing an old teammate.
“If I didn’t play basketball at Tennessee, I don’t meet my wife. I don’t have my daughter. It’s all connected,” he said. “If they hadn’t fired our asses, (my dad and I) wouldn’t be here. So the best thing that’s ever happened to me is being in Auburn, too.”
On the court, Pearl will be looking to lead his team to extend what has been their best stretch of basketball this season. The Tigers are winners of their last four.
“I would like a Letterman’s jacket at some point because I still haven’t gotten that,” Pearl joked. “But my years (at Tennessee) were some of the best of my life personally, because it shaped the man I am today. And a lot of things kind of fell in place for me to be where I’m at, in this chair.”
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.
