Back to web version
John Clay: Pitino vs. Pearl, the greatest show on earth
By John ClayHERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
Bruce Pearl should wear orange. Head to toe. Orange shoes, orange pants, orange shirt, orange tie, and that orange blazer. The magic man of Rocky Top Nation should dress like one big Valencia.
Rick Pitino should wear white. Head to toe. White shoes, white pants, white shirt, white tie and that white blazer. The supreme commander of Planet Red should reprise the Colonel Sanders look that was his first-half fashion when his Cards beat Georgetown last month.
How better to celebrate Pearl vs. Pitino?
After all, of the eight Sweet 16 matchups sure to brighten the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament over the next 48 hours, none can match the pure wattage of Thursday's Louisville-Tennessee East Regional semifinal game in Charlotte.
Talk about living in the future.
Here's Pitino, who resurrected Kentucky basketball in the 1990s by employing a pressing, up-tempo style mixed with master marketing and sideline theatrics.
Here's Pearl, who has resurrected Tennessee basketball by employing a pressing, running, up-tempo style, mixed with master marketing and sideline theatrics.
Considering the way both have fostered good growth stories, there are those around the Southeastern Conference who say Pearl now reminds them of Pitino then.
"I don't see any similarities in us at all," said Pitino in Louisville on Tuesday, previewing Cards-Vols. "He's more like Dr. Tom Davis. I think he's exactly like Tom."
And while Pitino says he doesn't know Pearl personally very well, he does know Dr. Tom. Pitino was head coach at Boston University when Davis was head coach at Boston College, and Pearl was a BC assistant.
"I grew up admiring (Pitino) literally," Pearl told the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Monday. "He was there in Boston at a time when Tom Davis was coaching Boston College and Jim Calhoun was coaching Northeastern. They watched each other, and they competed against each other, and they annoyed each other. But they all developed a system of up-tempo basketball and pressure defense."
"It's going to be like I'm playing Tom Davis again," said Pitino. "It's going to be like BU playing Boston College in the NIT."
During Pitino's eight-year tour of SEC duty, Tennessee was never much of a factor. The Vols were either glued to the lifeless days of Wade Houston, or under the irascible reign of Kevin O'Neill, who challenged Pitino off the floor, but rarely had the talent to best the Cats between the lines.
Pearl has given the Vols verve. In three seasons, he has guided UT to three NCAA Tournaments, and now back-to-back Sweet 16s, filled a refitted Thompson-Boling Arena, and, oh yeah, captured the school's first outright SEC title in 41 years.
"There are certain jobs, Tennessee being one of them, where it takes a unique personality to go in and turn things around," Pitino said. "It takes a very confident person, takes someone who's not afraid to take risks, take chances."
Because Tennessee is a football school?
"I always thought that was the worst statement I ever heard anybody say, it's a football school," said Pitino. "Because that usually means that you have more money in the program to make things better. He's done a great job with that program, like Billy has with Florida."
But Billy Donovan was a workaholic wonderboy who left no stone unturned in pursuit of a difference-maker. With his baby face and crisp dress shirts, Donovan wasn't so much a showman as a ravenous recruiter. His debt to Pitino is his work ethic.
Pearl is more Madison Avenue meets Dollywood. Pearl is the marketing genius, savvy enough to know that in the heart of pigskin country, basketball must be sold.
"What I like about him and what he's accomplished is that he's made it very entertaining for everybody," Pitino said. "I've never seen Tennessee travel like the other day in Birmingham. They had about 5,000 people there. You always saw some big home crowds, but you never saw Tennessee travel like that."
There will be plenty of orange in Charlotte Bobcats Arena Thursday night. As there is sure to be Cardinal red. They figure to witness a pair of terrific teams pressing, running, shooting threes and entertaining everyone.
On the sidelines, preening and screaming, will be the two ringleaders.
It should be some show.