Gotcher' Back

[Snaggletiger]

copy/pasta'd from 247 - Brandon Marcello


AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn University president Steven Leath has the back of his new athletics director and basketball coach Bruce Pearl.
On the same day athletics director Allen Greene said Pearl will "absolutely" be Auburn's basketball coach next season barring any new developments in an FBI and NCAA investigation, Leath voiced support for Pearl, too.
“Allen is fully capable of managing the situation," Leath told Auburn Undercover in a statement Wednesday. "That’s why we hired him. He’s absolutely correct in how he is handling it and what he said. Allen understands that the state of college basketball as a whole isn’t in a great place, but I’m confident that he and coach Pearl will work together through all the necessary and appropriate processes and, as he said, stay the course and operate with integrity. I’m already looking forward to another exciting season of Auburn basketball.”
Auburn's basketball program is dealing with the aftermath of an ongoing FBI investigation into former associate head coach Chuck Person. Questions about Pearl’s future lingered throughout the season as Auburn kept two star players off the floor after their families allegedly received money from Person in an effort to steer them toward an agent.
“I felt that after being on campus for a few weeks and being around that team I had a good enough chance to understand coach, look at his program and just realize, you know what, we do have a great person here for us and we want to see that success continue,” Greene said Wednesday on WJOX-FM’s The Roundtable. “We want to do it the right way and it’s unfortunate that the state of college basketball is where it is. We didn’t get that way overnight and we certainly won’t fix things overnight. But knowing the process of the FBI and NCAA investigation — who knows how long it’s going to be? But it’s going to be lengthy. So, I think it’s in our best interest to stay the course.”
Greene was asked if it his intention for Pearl to remain as coach, unless information involving Pearl pops up in the investigation.
“Absolutely,” he said.
Greene was hired in January and officially replaced Jay Jacobs as athletics director Feb. 1. Person’s arrest, along with the suspension of Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley, and the decision to place two support staffers on administrative leave, has led to questions about Pearl’s future and whether he had knowledge of Person’s plans. Auburn opened an internal investigation into the basketball program and is also cooperating with the FBI. Leath said in January the NCAA will investigate the program as well.
“One of the things that’s really important to the Auburn family is we do things the right way,” Greene said. “Bruce feels like he’s done nothing wrong. He and I have talked about that and I don’t have a reason to do anything other than what we’ve been doing: supporting him and his student-athletes.”
Auburn is coming off its best season of the millenium. The Tigers won the program's third regular-season SEC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Author
Brandon Marcello @bmarcello