Pete Thamel tells Paul Finebaum he would be ‘stunned’ if Bruce Pearl survives to coach Auburn next season
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Is it only a matter of time before Bruce Pearl is shown the door at Auburn? That seems to be the belief of many that cover college basketball.
Among them is Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel. Thamel is responsible for the recent article citing sources that inform him that as many as 50 college basketball programs could be named for possible violations following a lengthy FBI investigation into the alleged cheating in the sport.
Following his recent explosive report, Thamel was a Friday guest on The Paul Finebaum show. During his segment, Finebaum asked Thamel about Bruce Pearl’s future at Auburn. The Yahoo! writer certainly didn’t pull any punches when it came to the Tigers coach.
“I would be stunned if Bruce Pearl is the Auburn coach next year,” Thamel said to the question. “I can’t wrap my mind around the sense that he will be back.”
Considering Thamel appears to have some inside knowledge regarding the FBI’s findings into the current state of corruption inside college basketball, his opinion likely holds more weight than many others.
While his response was harsh, Thamel did credit Auburn for being proactive in sitting Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy this season in an attempt to not use players that could later prove to have been ineligible to compete on the court.
As for Finebaum, his response to Thamel’s take on Pearl’s future suggests he is of a like mind when it comes to the fate of Auburn’s coach.
“If you don’t agree with that opinion, I’m not sure what planet you are living on,” Finebaum said during the Thamel interview.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
