Wahl piece on Bruce Pearl (or, fluff articles vs. legit features)

But I've covered coaches that I consider good guys that also hate his guts. One assistant described a recruiting duel with Tennessee as a "battle of good and evil" and he wasn't kidding one bit.

 

It's a business of friends and enemies; hang around college hoops long enough and you can kind of draw the lines. Take any of the high-profile guys, and the opinion within the profession is usually half and half. Pearl is the only guy I've come across who is universally despised. If it were Coach K or Roy Williams or Ben Howland, you could write it off as professional jealousy. But Pearl hasn't been around long enough or been successful enough to inspire jealousy among his peers. So what's the story there? If you're really interested in getting to the core of the person, finding the answer to that question would be very useful.

 

and this hatred stems from turning in one of his own 20 years ago, right?

so why should it reflect poorly on peal that his peers universally despise him for being a whistleblower? if anything it reflects poorly on the industry not on pearl.

 

Spinning, those coaches serving you that bullshit are breaking just as many NCAA rules. Men's college basketball coaches are the shadiest of the shady, by in large.

A lot of coaches tell me stories about a lot other coaches, but it's never on the record, and a lot of times, I'm convinced it's not true. They tell you because they want you to write something. With the early signing period coming up, coaches are especially forthcoming with "dirt" that they can't prove, and you can't write.

 

Why not quotes from other coaches on what Pearl did or how he's perceived? If certain well-known coaches called to offer support -- why not something from them, or even a no-comment. How about something from Dr. Tom Davis? Or even Dickie V?