Bruce Pearl

Bruce Alan Pearl (born March 18, 1960) is a former American college basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team for 11 seasons. He previously served in the same position for Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. Pearl led Southern Indiana to a Division II national championship in 1995, during which he was named Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. In Division I, his teams won four conference championships and four conference tournament championships, and qualified for eleven NCAA tournament appearances and two Final Four appearances. Pearl is the second-fastest NCAA coach to reach 300 victories, needing only 382 games to reach this mark (Roy Williams needed 370 games at Kansas to reach this milestone). His 277 wins with Auburn are the most by a coach in program history. Pearl was named Coach of the Year by Sporting News in 2006 and was awarded the Adolph Rupp Cup in 2008. He also served as the head coach for the Maccabi USA men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games. In 2025, Pearl was named Co-AP Coach of the Year alongside Rick Pitino.