Bruce Pearl’s Busy Day

It is not even 5PM yet and Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has had one of the busiest days of his career. While you are checking the clock repeatedly wishing it was time to get off work (and reading our blog!), Pearl led Maccabi U.S.A’s Open Men’s Basketball Team to a gold medal at the Maccabi Games in Israel. This would be one hell of a day for most coaches, but Pearl also announced that Tennessee and Connecticut have signed a two-game contract to play men’s basketball during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

While the SEC Football Media Days are currently going on in Hoover, Ala., Tennessee basketball fans should be proud of their coach. He once again proved that Tennessee will have one of the toughest basketball schedules every year he is the head coach. Think about this: Tennessee plays at Uconn, at Kentucky and plays Kansas and Kentucky at home. That’s four games against teams that could be ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game. Some coaches enjoy playing cupcakes like PCU (Jeremy Piven before he was Ari Gold) or North Carolina Central. Pearl routinely plays Final Four contenders. Just like last year, this year might be one game too tough. In the long run Tennessee’s tough schedule will help the team earn a high RPI and a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas returns future first round draft picks Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins and is ranked number one in many pre-season rankings. Kentucky and John Calapari have one of the best recruiting classes since Michigan’s Fab Five. Guard John Wall might just be the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Uconn lost center Hasheem Thabeet and guard A.J. Price to the NBA but return forward Stanley Robinson and a HKS favorite, guard Kemba Walker. By the time basketball starts, we will have you on the Walker bandwagon.

Will Tennessee win the national championship next season? No. Their point guard situation still scares me and the Vols need senior Tyler Smith to have one great senior season for them to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee fans should expect a Sweet 16 appearance but should also appreciate having a coach that is not afraid to schedule the best teams in the country. Pearl’s biggest accomplishment today was representing his country well and accomplishing a goal that meant so much to him.