'Memories for a lifetime'

That's how Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl said he was feeling Tuesday morning, and it's easy to understand why.

Pearl's shirtless appearance -- complete with orange body paint and a white letter "V'' stenciled on his hairy chest -- at the Lady Vols basketball game with No. 1 Duke Monday night made national news with repeats on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Most of it positive, Pearl hopes.

"You just can't take yourself too serious,'' said Pearl, who hatched the idea on UT's call-in show a week before the Lady Vols' game. "It was one of those memories for a lifetime, and I was able to do it with my son and our teammates.''

In addition to Steven Pearl, a freshman walk-on, Vols' players Josh Tabb, Jordan Howell and Ryan Childress went shirtless with body paint, as did graduate assistant coach Mark Pancratz, who played for Pearl at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"When (women's coach) Pat (Summitt) told me that Duke was the toughest environment she'd seen in 33 years, I felt I had to do something to help out here,'' Pearl said. "I said I'd do it (go shirtless) just to stir interest, but then people kept asking me about it.

"When my players came to me and asked me about it, and said they wanted to do it with me, that was the clincher.''

Pearl, who consulted athletic director Mike Hamilton before going through with the shirtless stunt, said he's relieved that all feedback has been positive.

"When you do something like that, you risk you'll offend someone,'' Pearl said. "I consulted Pat and asked her what she thought, and she said I absolutely wasn't misrepresenting my profession.

"The moment the game started, I left, and Jordan replaced me as the 'V,' because I didn't want to detract from the game itself,'' he said. "It took me back to the day I was the Eagle spirit in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at an NCAA tournament game.''

While a student manager for the Boston College basketball team, Pearl filled in as the Eagles' mascot.