After moving to the broadcast table, Bruce Pearl talks Kentucky basketball
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- Former college basketball coach Bruce Pearl is now a broadcaster for CBS.
- Pearl was a Division I coach for 21 seasons at Milwaukee, Tennessee and Auburn.
- Pearl will be part of the broadcast crew for Saturday’s game between UK and St. John’s.
Over the years, Kentucky basketball fans became well-acquainted with Bruce Pearl.
A high-major college head coach for 21 seasons, Pearl spent 17 of those campaigns in the SEC at Tennessee (2005-2011) and Auburn (2014-2025).
Across those years, Pearl went 11-18 against UK. His last coaching effort against the Cats was a masterpiece: Auburn rolled to a 94-78 win over UK at Rupp Arena in March. Pearl’s pregame and postgame thoughts on the Wildcats were often must-listen occasions.
Now, Pearl is back around the Kentucky program in a different capacity.
The 65-year-old Pearl — who retired from coaching in late September, with his son Steven taking over for him at Auburn — is now part of the CBS broadcast crew.
Pearl’s announcing debut for the network will be Saturday, when he’s slated to call both games of the CBS Sports Classic doubleheader in Atlanta alongside play-by-play voice Brad Nessler, fellow analyst Bill Raftery and sideline reporter Jenny Dell.
Saturday’s first game is the highly-anticipated matchup between Kentucky (7-4) and No. 22 St. John’s (7-3), with the player-mentor combo of Mark Pope and Rick Pitino patrolling the sideline.
“I think (about) pace. Both teams like to run. So, who can do a better job in transition?” Pearl told the Herald-Leader while discussing the game in a Thursday night phone call. “Both teams have a chance to be elite defensive teams this year... I think finally, making shots. St. John’s has done it a little better recently... That’s going to be a big factor.”
Specifically regarding Kentucky, Pearl said junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate — who returned from a high ankle sprain to have 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in UK’s win over Indiana this past weekend — is a difference-maker because of his physicality.
“He’s athletic. He’s bouncy. He’s quick at his position,” Pearl said.
Of course, a major narrative surrounding Saturday’s contest will be the coaching battle between Pope and Pitino. Pope was a tri-captain on Kentucky’s 1995-96 national championship team, which was led by Pitino. This will be only the second time that Pope coaches against Pitino as a college head man.
In December 2015, Pope’s first college team at Utah Valley lost to Pitino’s Louisville team by 30 points in the Derby City.
“The preparation’s the same,” noted Pearl, who shared his own experience of coaching against Florida’s Todd Golden. Pearl coached Golden with the United States team at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, an international sports event for Jewish and Israeli athletes.
As far as the game’s implications are concerned, Pearl turned popular opinion — at least locally — on its head by talking up the importance of the outcome for the Red Storm.
“It’s an important game for both teams,” Pearl said. “It’s a really important game for St. John’s.”
The lack of quality teams in the Big East Conference — aside from current No. 5 UConn — heightens the importance for St. John’s to earn a quality win to close nonconference play, Pearl said.
To Pearl’s point, UConn and St. John’s are the only two Big East schools in this week’s AP Top 25 rankings. Seton Hall and Villanova also received votes. ESPN’s latest bracketology (which was updated earlier this week) projects the Big East to send four teams to March Madness, while the SEC is projected to have nine participants.
Pearl added that some teams in the SEC have taken a step back this season, compared to last year. This includes Ole Miss, which St. John’s has already defeated in nonconference play this season.
A look at the NCAA NET rankings only furthers Pearl’s point about the importance of Saturday’s result for the Red Storm. Pitino’s team is 0-3 in Quad 1 games this season, while UK was 1-4 in such contests as of Thursday night.
Regarding his role on the broadcast, Pearl said he’s hoping to put viewers on the bench with his insight and perspective. And to the extent that he will criticize the on-court action, Pearl said he hopes the things he points out will surface again when the teams conduct their respective film studies of the game.
