WBIR.COM - Vols Coach Pearl interviewed in <i>Sports Illustrated</i>
University of Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl sat down with
Sports Illustrated's Dan Patrick to talk about being number one, the recruiting game, and NCAA rules.Advertisement
Here is an excerpt. You can find the full version on the newsstand Tuesday in
Sports Illustrated.
Dan Patrick: Do you put on your résumé the days or hours that you're No. 1?
Bruce Pearl: You can make fun of it. (Laughs.) But if you're North Carolina, you're Duke, you're Pat Summitt, you're there all the time. This is uncharted territory [for us]. So you be grateful, you enjoy it. And now let's see if we can get back there.
DP: Of all the SEC coaches, who's the first pick if you guys played each other in basketball?
BP: Billy Donovan is a good player. And Jeff Lebo was the top high school player in the country coming out.
DP: Would you get picked, Bruce?
BP: You've got to have somebody who's going to rebound. I'm not going to want a lot of shots. I'd get picked last, but I'd get picked.
DP: If you were going conference against conference, could you handle Krzyzewski?
BP: As a player and as a coach, Mike Krzyzewski's got it over me. I lost a really tough recruiting battle to Duke this year. I said to the young man, "On the one hand, you've got a chance to play for Coach K. He'll be coaching the Olympic team. Or you could come play for a guy that takes his shirt off and paints his chest orange. Which is it going to be?"
DP: [During the Memphis game], you can't be putting your hands on Erin Andrews at halftime, Coach.
BP: Erin is a terrific sideline reporter, she knows the game, but she's also very engaging. I actually called her and texted her back, and I apologized if in any way that was unprofessional.
DP: Is texting her an NCAA violation?
BP: No, she's not a prospect.
DP: Oh, yes, she is.
BP: She's way out of my league when it comes to that category.
DP: You're not even a mid-major?
BP: Absolutely not. I'm D-II.
DP: When is the last time you accidentally broke an NCAA rule?
BP: Probably sometime in this conversation.
Sports Illustrated
I can't wait to read the rest of the interview...looks great so far
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SI Interview CBP by Dan Patrick 
