Leadership
Bruce Pearl
Head Men's Basketball Coach
University of Tennessee
"Work hard, play hard," is Tennessee Basketball's Coach Bruce Pearl mantra, and he hardly disappoints.
"Look how far we've come in this country when a Jewish man can be coaching in the Southeastern Conference," says Pearl. "I had a very conservative Jewish upbringing.” Three years after taking over the struggling University of Tennessee-Knoxville Vols, he's moved them to the top 10 rankings and looks to be a Final Four lock this year. While most teams would spend the preseason visiting an ocean front vacation spot, Pearl took the Vols on a tour of Eastern Europe and a World War II concentration camp. The trip included lectures by a UT history professor and the discussions included racism, anti-Semitism and mob mentality. At the Terezin camp near Prague, "Sometimes you're faced with a decision, and it may be difficult," said Pearl. "Make the right choice. Do it because it's the right thing. So often that's not what happens. People have gone along with the mob.”
Doing the right thing is an important part of Pearl's life. In a famous 1990 incident, Pearl blew the whistle on a recruiting scandal. "My mother begged me not to do it -- begged me, but I was trying to right a wrong, and I got tired of people complaining about all the cheating that was going on in college athletics and not being willing to do anything about it." H e credits his teenage years in South Boston with forging his toughness and Jewish awareness. When pushed he'd say "I'd say, I'm Israeli,' " he says. "Which sent a different message: I'm Jewish, but I'm also a tough guy."
This summer, Bruce Pearl will be taking the US Maccabi Basketball team to Israel to compete in the 2009 Maccabi Games. Join Coach Pearl and the entire US Maccabi Basketball Team at the 2009 FJMC International Convention in Philadelphia on July 1, 2009. Don't miss this international experience; register now!
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