Strange: Pearl may be content to stay in Milwaukee

It's surrounded by a nice residential neighborhood. The Lake Michigan shore is but a short jog away.

There's even a beach. Of course, leftover snow scattered here and there was a sure sign this isn't Panama City.

Any campus that has a bar in the Student Union deserves bonus points. Friday afternoon, however, the Gasthaus was quieter than the nearby Golda Meir Library. How many colleges can claim an Israeli prime minister among its alumni?

The bar (and grill, to be accurate) was not only quiet but clean, no residue left from Thursday night's Sweet 16-viewing party. In the bookstore, though, UWM Panthers clothing was still moving at a brisk pace.

If there was any anxiety that the Panthers' coach might be moving as well, you couldn't find it. That story has much bigger legs in Knoxville than in Wisconsin.

The 77-63 loss to Illinois ended the Panthers' two-week joyride. It's back to business as usual.

Except for the coach in question, Bruce Pearl.

Pearl's offseason begins huddling with Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton in Chicago.

Believed to be the lead candidate for the Vols' vacany, Pearl might face a decision as to the merits of coaching basketball at UWM or in Knoxville.

Even though he would at the least double his financial package by moving to Tennessee, it won't be a slam dunk.

Pearl has a good thing going at Milwaukee. Under his direction, the Panthers have dethroned Butler as the top program in the Horizon League.

Furthermore, he has a good team coming back. Perhaps he's willing to sit on a strong hand and see if more attractive jobs open up next year.

After all, he was willing to bide his time through nine years at Division II Southern Indiana before he got an offer he liked from UWM.

"The buildings you played in were smaller and the crowds were, too,'' Pearl said this week. "We traveled by bus and vans, but the court is still 94 feet.

"I never felt like I was out of it.''

Moving families is never convenient. Pearl's daughter is a student at Wisconsin-Madison. His oldest son Steven is a junior in high school, the same one Ernie Grunfeld's son, Dan, attended. Pearl's parents live in Florida, one less complication.

Pearl has never worked below the Mason-Dixon Line. Growing up in Boston, it's safe to say UT wasn't his dream job.

But I have a feeling Pearl's friend Grunfeld has been telling him Tennessee could be the right job for right now.

Grunfeld realizes Tennessee isn't so much a coaching graveyard as a monument to untapped and mismanaged potential.

Fighting for a niche with football and women's basketball at UT shouldn't be daunting. Here, UWM is the third hoops option in the city behind the NBA Bucks and Marquette.

The lack of a basketball-only practice facility? That should give Pearl a laugh. Here, his team shares a campus building with volleyball, track and whatever other sport is in season.

But, aside from the paycheck, UT's marquee attraction should be the chance to escape the perils of mid-major existence.

You can be the fifth- or sixth-best team in the SEC and still make the Big Dance.

For all UWM accomplished this season, Pearl knows that if Detroit had made a couple of free throws in the Horizon League tournament championship game, the Panthers might well have been relegated to the NIT and the magic of the past two weeks would have never happened.

A dream job? Maybe not. But Tennessee can be a good job.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.