It should come as no surprise that Memphis would have interest in
hiring Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl.

Why not?

Pearl is the hottest thing in men’s basketball in this state — now that John Calapari has departed Memphis for the bluer pastures of Kentucky. And Pearl is a recruiter and marketing whiz who has done a marvelous job building Tennessee’s program. He’s fashioned two #2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, finished ahead of Kentucky in the SEC standings four straight years and was 2-2 against Calipari’s Tigers with, for the most part, less talent.

While you can expect Memphis to make a play on Pearl, Tennessee
athletic director Mike Hamilton is confident he won’t be embarking on a
basketball search any time soon.

Hamilton said, as of Wednesday afternoon, Memphis had not asked for
permission to speak to Pearl.

And Hamilton said he is “not concerned” about losing Pearl to Memphis.

Why not?

“First of all, we’ve shown through the contract and facilities improvements a very serious commitment to basketball,” Hamilton said.

He also mentioned a serious contract for Pearl. To recap: Pearl signed a six-year deal last year worth $13.85 million. It paid him $3.35 million the first year — $1.5 million for a retention bonus, $250,00 for a signing bonus and $1.6 million in base pay, TV-radio, adidas and endorsements.

Next year, Pearl gets a $500,000 retention bonus on top of his $1.7 million package.

In 2010-11, Pearl gets $1.8 million, then $1.9 million, then $2 million with another $500,000 longevity bonus. In 2013-14, Pearl will make $2.1 million.

Moreover, Pearl has a $1.8 million buyout if he leaves, Hamilton said.

There are several other reasons Hamilton doesn’t think he’ll lose Pearl to Memphis.

“Tennessee is a better basketball opportunity — absolutely,” Hamilton said.  “And I believe Bruce wants to be here.”

Another reason: “He’s invested in the community and I don’t think he’d turn his back on that.”

Another reason: Family. Pearl is divorced, but he spends a lot of
time with his four children, one of whom he coaches at Tennessee and two who are middle-school age.

That might not stop Memphis from pursuing Pearl.

But Hamilton remains confident he won’t lose his gem.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Homepage, Tennessee . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.