WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Just as Bruce Pearl is about to head into the NCAA Tournament, his future is suddenly in flux.
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton thrust Pearl into a new stage of uncertainty regarding his future for next season.
“The jury is out on what’s going to happen with that at this point,” Hamilton told radio station WNML in an interview that was taped on Tuesday and aired on Wednesday. “We don’t know the answer today.”
Tennessee faces 10 NCAA violations, including an unethical conduct charge after Pearl initially lied to NCAA investigators about a hosting juniors at a BBQ at his house.
“I think that we’ve done a lot of soul-searching about the direction of our program and we’ll continue to do that, and we’ll decide after we’re out of the NCAA tournament what the direction is that we’re going to go next,” Hamilton told WNML.
Pearl declined comment to the New Sentinel.
Tennessee (19-14) meets Michigan (20-13) in a second-round NCAA Tournament game Friday.
