(Cross-Posted from Silence Isn't Golden)

Although this Vandy fan loves to trash-talk the Volunteers, I've always held an immense amount of respect for UT men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl. I picked up the Washington Post during my layover in DC en route back to Ithaca back today, and I was amazed to see this article in the sports section.

Bruce Pearl has won over all the dogs and babies in Tennessee, and most of the Christians, too. After just a few minutes of listening to him, it's apparent why the people at this football-crazed university of the deep South have so quickly adopted a chattering, gesticulating, Yankee basketball coach who also happens to be, smothered gasp, Jewish. It would be easier to resist a steam press.

The article goes on to describe how he had to defend himself as a Jew in the racially and politically charged Boston of the 1970s, and the ups and downs of his career, including the Iowa-Illinois debacle.

You know, in this era of steroids and Spygate, it's extremely refreshing to see someone who did the honest thing and was eventually rewarded for it. Pearl was essentially blacklisted from D-I basketball for a decade after turning in Illinois for recruiting violations. But karma always catches up in the end, and Pearl is now the coach of one of the most successful turnarounds in basketball history.

Go read the rest of the article. If you're a UT fan, it should provide extra motivation for the Sweet 16. But the state of Tennessee as a whole is lucky to have him.