Auburn basketball: Why John Cohen thinks some ‘lose sight’ of Bruce Pearl’s excellence

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AUBURN — John Cohen has much to say about Bruce Pearl.

When Cohen came to Auburn in October 2022, Pearl was one the few coaches in place on the Plains who looked likely to be around for the entirety of his new athletics director’s tenure. Through a little more than two years, that’s proven to be true, as Pearl’s led Auburn basketball to another No. 1 ranking this season, with the Tigers sitting atop the SEC as Pearl has become the winningest coach in program history.

Asked by the Montgomery Advertiser what Cohen could learn and subsequently apply to his department in regard to Auburn’s investment in men’s basketball, he gushed about Pearl, who’s taught him a good deal in short time, he said.

But there’s also something bothering Cohen on the subject of his men’s basketball coach.

“Because he has this incredible ability to bring people together, if you will, I have to say it bothers me that people around the country might lose sight of the fact that he is a damn-good X’s and O’s basketball coach,” Cohen told the Advertiser. “He is a damn-good evaluator of talent.”

Cohen himself is no stranger to coaching in the SEC. He spent 17 years as a head college baseball coach before becoming an athletics director, with 13 of those seasons spent between Kentucky and his alma mater, Mississippi State. And his words on Pearl have proven true this season.

BROOME NOT NEEDED: How Auburn basketball beat two ranked opponents without Johni Broome

Just last week, Pearl guided the Tigers to a pair of victories over ranked opponents without their best player, Johni Broome. The player starting in place of Broome was Chaney Johnson, who was playing Division II basketball two years ago. Two more of his starters, Denver Jones and Chad Baker-Mazara, had stops at the junior college level before playing for Auburn, a rather unorthodox route for college basketball players at this level of the sport.

But what Pearl is best at, Cohen said, is a lesson for young coaches.

“This is 2025,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/auburn-basketball-why-john-cohen-100238197.html

Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2025-01-24 10:02:00

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