What Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl said he learned from Tennessee legend Pat Summitt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. − Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl spent six seasons at Tennessee from 2005-11, overlapping in Knoxville with legendary women's basketball coach Pat Summitt for his entire tenure.
The two were friends, supporting each other's programs in various ways. Most memorable was Pearl painting himself orange and sitting in the student section of one of the women's games. To return the favor, Summitt later appeared at a men's game dressed as a cheerleader, leading the crowd in a rendition of "Rocky Top."
But the relationship between the two exceeded the antics. Pearl watched Summitt work, and he still reaches back to the things he learned more than a decade later.
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"I learned from the great Pat Summitt," Pearl told reporters Wednesday at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. "She used to tell great, great players like Candace Parker, 'Look girl you signed up for this. You said you wanted to be a Lady Vol. Now you need to behave like it, act like it, train like it (and) play like it.' That's what I do. Don't come to Auburn unless you want to be an Auburn man.
"Don't come to Auburn unless you want to be coached hard, be a champion and find out how good you can be. Because I'm going to ride you hard, but I'm going to love along the way. I'll spoil them, but I'll slap the spoiled right off them."
Pearl added: "(The players are) my life. Coach Pat Dye, the great Pat Dye, who we miss so terribly much at Auburn, said you can coach them as hard as you love them. And I love them, and I coach them hard. I have high expectations for all of them."
Summitt died in 2016.
The Tigers (20-11, 10-8 SEC) begin their run in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas (19-12, 8-10) on Thursday (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
Auburn starting forward Jaylin Williams said Pearl is "very chill," despite what some may think when watching his demeanor on the sidelines.
"If you really need to talk with him, if you've got something serious, I know some players are scared to have a conversation with their coaches, but you can always go to BP. And he's going to be very understanding of the situation on and off the court. ...
"Just communicate with him. He's always there."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bruce Pearl: What Auburn basketball learned from Pat Summitt
