Why Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl saved a Charles Barkley voicemail for 7 years

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AUBURN — Among the various topics Charles Barkley touched on during a brief appearance on Tuesday’s broadcast of the Auburn basketball vs. Oklahoma game, the former Auburn great shared an anecdote about head coach Bruce Pearl, a voicemail he left Pearl and how the coach kept it.

While covering March Madness as an in-studio analyst for TNT during Pearl’s Tennessee tenure, he gave Pearl a call, he said. He’d never met him. But he wanted to compliment him on his coaching ability.

“He saved the phone call for seven years,” Barkley said. “He played it when he got the Auburn job. He said, ‘I’ve got to play something for you guys: Charles Barkley, who I’ve never met in my life, sent me a voicemail.’ … We got lucky to get him.”

In September, speaking at a golf event he co-hosts with Pearl in Opelika, Barkley was further complimentary of the coach, saying: “I never thought — and you guys, too, if you’re being honest, y’all probably thought we’d never get to the point where Auburn made the tournament and lost and it would be, like, a disappointing season. That’s where we’re at now. That’s all to Bruce and his coaching staff, who have done a fabulous job.”

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bruce Pearl kept a Charles Barkley voicemail for years. Here’s why.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-auburn-basketball-coach-bruce-033512474.html

Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2025-02-05 03:35:00

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