Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has the No. 1 vote from Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz to become the next coach at troubled Indiana.
"These are my shoot-for-the-moon candidates," Kravitz said in his column in Friday's edition.
"If IU has to settle for a smaller name down the road, fine. But let's see it make a play for some of the established big dogs of college basketball.
"My first call (and second and third) would be to Bruce Pearl of Tennessee. He's a terrific coach, he's a charismatic personality and he would make those IU-Illinois games even more heated. Anybody who is willing to paint his body orange for a women's game gets my vote. It doesn't hurt that he has Midwest ties, having been an assistant at Iowa and head coach at Southern Indiana."
Kravitz said his other candidates would be Louisville's Rick Pitino, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Memphis' John Calipari and Texas' Rick Barnes. After that it's Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings, Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt and Gonzaga's Mark Few.
Kelvin Sampson resigned from Indiana last week amid a phone-call scandal.
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Comments » 67
agentorange writes:
keep dreaming
utfpmd writes:
If Hamilton allows Bruce to be stolen away then we need to find a new AD. Pearl is worth his weight in gold to our athletic department.
TommyJack writes:
I endorse Kevin Stallings.
allvolinatlanta writes:
I endorse TommyJacks endorsement of Kevin Stallings
vol52 writes:
utfpmd, I like the way you think!
TommyJack, I second your endorsement.
dickthompson1#218680 writes:
"IU-IL heated rivalries with sellout crowds of 12,000" ??? Yeah right,this matchup really wants to get me to spend an afternoon in front of the tube watching these dipweed teams. Kravitz ought venture South more often for anyone of a number of SEC games. He will find enough heat to boil his water in SEC , and SEC coaches do not throw chairs onto the court....plus the fans in SEC are a helluva lot more civil than those I see on tv in "the big 10" ( notice caps here)
EDis4UT writes:
utfpmd,
I agree. IF that somehow happened, it may be or will be the greatest blunders in UT Athletic history!
Rebelsfball2008 writes:
I third the motion of TommyJack.......
the the I's have it...BP aint going nowhere as long as the fan support is here in force...
TommyJack writes:
Mikey ain't gonna let Pearl go. He would be run out0town.
RussellP writes:
It wouldn't necessarily be a blunder at all. I want to keep Pearl as much as anyone does, but his Indiana roots are very strong and the IU job is one of the top hoops jobs in the nation. UT has shown that it is capable of hiring a top-notch champion coach so if Pearl leaves we simply do it again. Duke, Indiana, UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas are the five NCAA jobs that it is hard to turn down.
EDis4UT writes:
Yep. To me Stallings will be a PERFECT fit for IU. Is he a former Purdue guy?
dcvolfan98 writes:
I agree with TommyJack. Is it possible to package Stallings and that horrible Memorial Gym and send them both to IU?
dfreeman writes:
I 4th you TJ!! Oops I 5th or 6th or 7th you on that one!! LOL Give Pearl whatever he wants to stay!!
utvolz#637682 writes:
Stallings is a Purdue alum who also coached there under Keady after he graduated.
Frank in Miami
coach75 writes:
i jsut hope their pg recruit will decommit and come to us. if hamilon let pearl go he should be put in front of a moving train.
MrBamSeydu writes:
I endorse myself.
utchris writes:
There is no way that he is leaving. He has even said that he is 100% committed to staying the University. Other coaches (i.e. Saban, Petrino) have said that then bolted, but ole Bruce has been to far out spoken against coaches like that to go and pull that. I am sure that the we have the donors that will be willing to match and beat whatever Indiana can throw down. Not to mention that he has a newly renovated arena and a state of the art practice facility. Plus he is a single man, and the girls of the SEC look better that the girls of the Big 10.
jglocsawgrass#635647 writes:
Brucie Baby....you are indeed "our" Pearl...please don't go!!!!! Come on Mikey and pay what ever you have to!
orangebass writes:
Bruce is certainly not going anywhere for a while, just not him to leave when his first real class are just sophmores, and steven is a freshman. but mike hamilton needs to get his checkbook out and give bruce what he is worth.
bruce has put literally millions of $ in the athletic dept since his arrival, mr hamilton has a lot more money to pay him with now !!
and pat needs a raise also !!!
i endorse kevin stallings for indiana.
kdaff51 writes:
Nothing to worry about here. Think BP is ready to go to a program facing possible sanctions? Dont think so but...TN better get the checkbook out. Success has a price.
EDis4UT writes:
Posted by utchris2003 on March 1, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal): "Plus he is a single man, and the girls of the SEC look better that the girls of the Big 10."
LOL!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
TJ, I fourth that motion. Move all of Vanderbilt sports to Indiana. They are pretty interchangeable, results wise. How many years ago did Knight win in B ball? Footbll would be a wash. Take a chunk from Phil and give to BP, do something.
cphil writes:
Plus, got to keep in mind, Indiana will almost certainly be placed on probation and/or lose scholarships as a result of "3-way Phonegate". I can't see any coach from a successful top tier program jumping into that kind of mess.
cdldoc#211897 writes:
Take Stallings.....please.
Einstein writes:
There is no way Bruce Pearl is leaving the Tennessee program he built and is now at the pinnacle for a defunct and dieing Indiana program. Indiana basketball is dead. Similarly, Pitino, Izzo, Calapari and Barnes are not going to Indiana. I endorse Kevin Stallinga and throwing in the Vanderbilt basketball court. Vanderbilt has a lot of money why don't they build a real basketball. I guess Tennessee will have to build it for them.
Einstein writes:
Besides Vanderbilt sports is now an intramural activity since they have no athletic department. I am sure that Stallings is gone somewhere after this year.
thesavageorange writes:
yemmusdarbl, I 2nd you're endorsement of yourself!
cphil writes:
gatornation, you dream on. You're just upset because Pearl has made Billy Donovan his beatch.
RJ_Vol writes:
I say let's make a trade. We get Indiana's sports reporter who wrote positive comments about a Tennessee coach...and Indiana can have John Adams as their basketball coach (JA seems to know how all sports programs should be run).
TennesseeTominTexas writes:
Bob Kravitz... wasn't he married to Gladis in an old 70's sitcom? Whoever he is, I can imagine about 15 or 20 little red dots on his torso right about now. <grin>
98reax writes:
utfpmd, I agree. "Keep your mitts off Coach Pearl" that's what I'm saying to whomever will listen. He's all Tennessee Volunteer Basketball and if we let him even talk to anyone it'd be a travesty.
jclowers writes:
If Mike Hamilton lets Bruce Pearl go.. I think we should stage a city wide protest and maybe even burn him at the stake. JK. But seriously Hamilton...now is the time to announce he is getting a huge raise. I can't see Bruce Pearl leaving, his catch phrase this year is "commitment", we gave him the beautiful (inside) arena, now give us a good run in the SEC Tourney and a deep run in the NCAA tourney and lets give him a couple of million bucks...we have enough!
jclowers writes:
What Bruce Pearl should do when that phone call comes, as it inevitably will, he should say "I'm not interested, but I know someone who is..." and he should hand the phone to Tony Jones. I have no doubt in my mind that Tony will be gone next year, hopefully to a good school. And we will probably play that school in a couple of years.
brat52 writes:
I gotta a suggestion! Lets send them gatornation! He doesn't like us "hillbillies" OR the Big Orange country, so he would be a shoo in for IU! All he can do is find fault, let him be the big cheese and see what he can do that is better than us hillbillies!
creepykev#228270 writes:
I agree there are a lot of rednecks in this state, but there are just as many in Florida and Indiana too.
doctorvol#211700 writes:
when Stallings come for the interview, please don't make fun of his clothes, (ala Dickey) and IU might just have itself a coach.
WorkLikeHeck writes:
Why are we talking about this?
tennisvol writes:
I agree with some of the other comments. Stallings is the man for the job.
cmglassman#237498 writes:
TJ - Based on the past performance of the UT AD dept Pearl Ball is about to end....Big 10 hoopla trumps SEC mania...not sure why...maybe because Pat will always be No.1 in K-town..
stroker writes:
four million is a lot of bucks. That number is out there.
EDis4UT writes:
cmglassman: You're crazy.
james#216392 writes:
Buzz Peterson might be available. It seems his recuiting is what made TN so good the last three years.
Don't let Pearl get away. GO VOls.
FWBVol writes:
Bruce Pearl has a history of staying in the same place for long stretches. He was at DII Southern Indiana more than 10 years before going to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UT has built the best facilities in the country for Pearl. We can match any program in the nation financially so there shouldn't be any problems if it comes to a bidding war.
Indiana basketball isn't what it once was, and neither is UT basketball. It seems the programs are ships sailing in the opposite directions, and we must keep Bruce Pearl on the bridge of the ship Tennessee Basketball.
bricker865 writes:
Gatornation...if you really gave a phooey about Pearl you would know he is from Boston and not 'hillbilly country', and how do you know he's not 'emotionally attached'. He is making 10 times more than he made in his previous job. I would beg to differ. Your coach came a hair of leaving for the NBA so what's to make you think he's not going to try it again when/if a better offer comes up? I'm surprised you have internet capability in that doublewide park you live in. Don't let those blue heads run you out of there. Good luck in the NIT.
Couchdummy writes:
Before everyone advocates Hamilton be fired were we to lose Pearl, remember it was Hamilton who brought him to UT to begin with!! I think he will do everything in his power to keep Bruce! Besides, Bruce is one of us now!
rootin4volz writes:
Wake up and smell the coffee Indiana...'taint happenin'...Dream on.
budd#207344 writes:
why do I want to go to a school that is on probation. Bruce Pearl is not stupid
FWBVol writes:
rabidvolfan, Phillip Fulmer did have other people interested in him after the national championship season. As has been said countless times on this site before, Phillip Fulmer made it clear he wasn't interested in other jobs. He is a college coach, not a NFL type guy. And how many programs can really compete with the history and tradition of UT? Yes, there are a few out there, but Tennessee is in the Top 10 in every significant variable such as wins, bowl games, attendance... that might play into a coach's decision in staying or going. Of course the deciding factor is he is a Tennessee guy.
Hunter writes:
Word from Stallings's family (friend of an in-law) is that he's already been contacted. Let's hope.......although they could take Coach Cal and I'd be just as happy!
DekanGator writes:
Vol fans, In all due respect, I think Bruce will stay, BUT... We went through the same thing with Billy D .. with Kentucky going after him.
Remember no matter what happens he will always be #2 at best in Knoxville. Football comes first.
He can go to a school where Basketball is #1 In Indiana,
Lets face it, The SEC is a football conf.
I think if they want to talk to him he might listen. I Don't think its a money issue. Its being a big fish in a little pond vs a small fish in a big pond.
I hope you guys get your wish.He's good for the SEC and makes us stronger.
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