Bruce Pearl Proud He ‘Helped Get That Going A Little Bit’ at Tennessee
Image: New York Times
By Cody McClure
Update: Bruce Pearl says Johni Broome is a game-time decision Saturday night. He reportedly practiced yesterday and wants to play:
Bruce Pearl said he was proud to have been at both Tennessee and Auburn, as both teams have been among the best in the SEC over the bigger part of the last decade.
Pearl made some comments Thursday previewing tomorrow’s ranked matchup between the Vols and Tigers.
“These two teams, Tennessee and Auburn, have been the best two teams in the SEC, at least by winning percentage, over the last eight years,” Pearl said. “I’m proud to be a part of that. Even in some smaller, lesser way also proud that I was at Tennessee and helped get that going a little bit.”
Pearl said he has great respect for Rick Barnes.
“They play as good of defense as anybody in the country … Nobody does it better than Rick Barnes at Tennessee.”
There was a possibility that Auburn’s Johni Broome would try to practice yesterday, but it’s unclear whether or not he did.
“We will know more [Friday] and Saturday,” Pearl said yesterday. “He’s going to try to move around a little bit.”
Pearl had high praise for Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler.
“He will go down as one of the all-time greats in the history of Tennessee basketball.”
Pearl also spoke on his relationship with Barnes and noted that they speak more often in the offseason.
“Coach Barnes and I, we’ll visit more in the offseason. Coaches, we don’t, at least I don’t have much interaction with other coaches throughout the course of the season … We’ll save the interaction for the offseason.”