College basketball has been hit with a huge coaching retirement decision for a second straight preseason. Auburn’s Bruce Pearl is leaving the profession, sources told CBS Sports on Monday. The news comes less than a year after Virginia’s Tony Bennett shockingly stepped away in October 2024.
After an offseason of considering whether or not to retire, Pearl came to terms with his decision and made it final on Monday morning, sources said. He’s been linked to a potential Senate run in Alabama in recent months as well, but sources had been downplaying the likelihood that Pearl would go into politics this year.
The 65-year-old Pearl has been a head coach dating back to 1992, when he first got a chance running a program at Division II Southern Indiana where, in 1995, he won a Division II national championship. Pearl then coached at Milwaukee from 2001-05, at Tennessee from 2005-11 and, since 2014, has guided Auburn under its greatest run in school history. Pearl leaves on a high note, having taken the Tigers to the Final Four with a No. 1 seed last season. He also took Auburn to its first Final Four in 2019.
Steven Pearl, Bruce’s son, is being promoted to full-time head coach, sources said. Steven Pearl is 38.
This breaking news story will update shortly.
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