Bruce Pearl Biography

Bruce Alan Pearl, born on March 18, 1960, served as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team for 11 seasons. He previously held head coaching positions at Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. During his tenure at Southern Indiana, he guided the team to a Division II national championship and received the Division II Coach of the Year award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He reached 300 NCAA victories in 382 games, making him the second-fastest coach in history to achieve this milestone. Pearl earned the Sporting News Coach of the Year honor in 2006 and was awarded the Adolph Rupp Cup in 2008. In 2025, he was named Co-AP Coach of the Year alongside Rick Pitino. Before his head coaching roles, he served as an assistant coach at Stanford University from 1982 to 1986 and at the University of Iowa from 1986 to 1992 under Coach Tom Davis.