SEC Suspends Bruce Pearl for Eight Games

Back in September, Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl finally admitted to committing many NCAA violations. Pearl improperly hosted prospects at his home in 2008, and also made excessive calls to recruits. The University cut Pearl’s pay by $1.5 million over five years and banned him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year, and today the SEC laid the law. From the USA Today:  “Bruce Pearl has been suspended for the Volunteers’ first eight conference games this season due to NCAA rules violations that were discovered over the summer. Pearl was found to have lied to NCAA investigators as they investigated allegations of rules violations by Pearl and his staff. The coach told investigators he didn’t know where a photo of a recruit — who was a high school junior at the time — had been taken, but investigators already knew that the photo was taken at Pearl’s home. Hosting a high school junior at an off-campus site is prohibited by NCAA rules. On the dates of the games in which Pearl is suspended, he is prohibited from all team activities, which include, but are not limited to practices, meetings, pre- and post-game activities and the game itself.”