Pearl's success enjoyed at USI
When Rick Herdes watched Tennessee play Virginia last Sunday, he observed that Bruce Pearl, his former employer, had meticulously taken away all of Virginia's inbounds passes. Herdes knew there was no way the Cavaliers were going to score on those plays. Pearl already knew them from memory.
It was the same when Pearl coached at the University of Southern Indiana, from 1992-2001. In addition to developing an up-tempo offense, a frenetic press and a charismatic presence normally reserved for Las Vegas stage acts, Pearl honed a healthy addiction for opponents' game film. Pearl demanded that his staff follow his lead,
said Herdes, an assistant under Pearl for nine seasons and now the head coach at USI.
"If you missed something on tape," Herdes said, "you were going to hear about it."
With a spot in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at stake, fifth-seeded Tennessee (24-10) will play top-seeded Ohio State (32-3) in a South Regional semifinal tonight in San Antonio. And the friends Pearl made at Southern Indiana say they expect to catch glimpses of the old days whenever the Volunteers unleash their fullcourt defense or run their flex offense.
More than anything, Herdes said, he plans to see the same passion on the sideline. "The guy could sell broomsticks for $100 apiece," Herdes said. "He gets those kids to believe."
Southern Indiana was Pearl's first head coaching job, and he guided the Screaming Eagles to a 231-46 record and the Division II national title in 1995. His worst season was his first at the school, when Southern Indiana went 22-7.
"One thing Coach always says is that hard work doesn't guarantee success," said Chad Gilbert, a forward during the team's national title run. "But he can guarantee he'll put you in a position to succeed."
During the first and second rounds in Columbus, Ohio, the Vols became known as the "land of misfit toys," a characterization Pearl embraced. After all, his starting lineup includes a 6-3 power forward (Dane Bradshaw), a freshman forward (Wayne Chism), a former walk-on (JaJuan Smith), a freshman point guard who had never played the position (Ramar Smith), and Chris Lofton - a shooting guard coveted out of high school only by NAIA Georgetown (Ky.) College.
"But, I mean, they've got a misfit coach," said Pearl, who nonetheless tested his young team with a brutal non-conference schedule that included games against Texas, Ohio State, North Carolina and Memphis. "When you put a schedule together, what kind of statement are you making when there's nobody on it in the non-conference? What are you telling your kids? You're telling them you're afraid. So I don't want my kids afraid to fail."
Marc Hostetter, the starting point guard for USI's championship team and now an assistant coach under Herdes, said Pearl has an innate inability to energize his players, and his enthusiasm tends to spread to the community. He had caravans following the Screaming Eagles on trips. This January, he covered himself with orange paint for a Tennessee women's game.
While he might be willing to remove his clothing before a television audience, he is reluctant to hoist a 3-pointer in front of his players. "I've never seen the man shoot a jump shot," Hostetter said. "Not once. Of course, he was more than willing to correct my form."
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