Breaking News: Bruce Pearl Out at UT

The rumors have been circulating for several days now, but it seems as though they are no longer rumors. Bruce Pearl has been fired as the head basketball coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.

Here’s a tweet from Jimmy Hyams of The Sports Animal in Knoxville:

And here’s some info from CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish:

"Tennessee has decided to end Bruce Pearl’s tenure as the school’s men’s basketball coach because of NCAA violations detailed in a notice of allegations received last month, a source told CBSSports.com on Monday. A formal announcement is expected in the next 24 hours. A source told CBSSports.com that Pearl is not expected to hold a press conference."

There you have it, folks. After the 75-45 loss to Michigan on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, we all knew this was coming.

Even if the Vols had managed to make a nice little run in the the tourney, it doesn’t sound like it would have mattered. It seems like athletic director Mike Hamilton had no choice. And per the info from Hyams, it sounds like the chancellor made it clear that Pearl was not going to return as their men’s basketball coach.

We discussed this situation a few days ago in preparation for this, and now, things seemed to have played out like we all thought they would.

The man that brought Tennessee basketball to levels that it had never been before is no longer in charge. So, now what?

I’m not saying that Pearl should get off lightly by lying to the NCAA. He should be punished, and he likely still will be punished for his actions at some point in the near future.

However, this is an extremely tough spot for the Vols. Pearl was the reason that Thompson-Boiling Arena was filled night in and night out, as the energy and enthusiasm that he brought to that program was simply something that Tennessee fans had never seen before.

It wasn’t just the the showmanship side of things though. He could coach too. The Vols were ranked number one in the country a few years ago, and were one win away from the Final Four last season.

Can someone else come in and do what Pearl did on the floor? Maybe. But can someone else come in and do what Pearl did off the floor in terms of reviving the fanbase? Well, that could take a while.

This is the kind of move that could set a program back for five years or so. Again, Pearl’s the one that got himself in this situation, so he’s the one at fault here. However, for Tennessee fans, the reality is about to set in that their program may not be the same for a long, long time.

So what happens next for both sides?

For Pearl, he’ll have to wait and see what type of punishment is handed down by the NCAA. If he’s suspended for a lengthy amount of time, then it’s going to take some serious work for him to land a good job anytime soon. He’ll coach again though. I have no doubt about that.

As for Tennessee, well, things aren’t as straight-forward. Seriously, where do you go from here? The fan base heavily supported Pearl…..even after the allegations came out. So do you think they are all just gonna come running back so quickly now that the decision has been made to fire their coach?

Without complete certainty as to what awaits the program from a violations standpoint, it’s going to be more than difficult to bring in an experienced head coach with a sparkling resume. No one wants to come into a position where it’s going to take several years to even be in contention.

Players will transfer or enter the draft now that this decision has been made, and the recruits they had coming in will likely go elsewhere. That means major roster rehaul, and that’s something that will take some time to build up again.

So as is usually the case, it’s the school that gets hurt the most in these situations.

Pearl will bounce back, and will get another head coaching job at a school that desperately needs some life brought back into their program.

Meanwhile, Tennessee will be starting all over again. And this time, it will be hard to find someone like Pearl to save them.

Want more March Madness talk? You can follow us on Twitter (@bustingbrackets), or check out our Facebook page for more college basketball discussion!