Bruce Pearl goes to work for grocery company

Bruce Pearl

((ht: govolsextra.com))

Well, that is certainly a change in the old career arc. Former Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who essentially can't coach for a couple of years because of his NCAA violation issues, has taken a job working for a Knoxville area grocery wholesale company.

Pearl will, as of Sept. 1st, be the Vice President of Marketing for H.T Hackney Co. and while yeah, you can make jokes about hacking and basketball, it's a bit of a departure for the personable Pearl.

According to the govolsextra.com website, Pearl has a degree in marketing and economics from the Boston College School of Management.

Read more from the Knoxville News-Sentinel website RIGHT HERE

While we congratulate Pearl on his move to "Civilian" life, we do have a question. How is it someone with no actual experience in the field he is now entering can start as a Vice President at a reasonably large company?

Oh, it's owned by former Tennessee trustee Bill Sansom. And H.T Hackney is a pretty big company to boot.

And it was enough for Pearl to turn down the chance to coach in the NBA's "D" league. But hey, congrats to ya Brucie. You are a strong enough personality that yeah, you'll probably be reasonably successful. And like all good coaches who get in trouble or fired, a year or two away, and it is amazing how much better your future coaching prospects become.

DEVELOPING: Crittenton To Surrender Tuesday--UPDATE: He' s arrested Monday night

((UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY))

Javaris Crittenton's attorney, Brian Steel, says his client plans to surrender to authorities to face murder charges in Atlanta.

Steel says that Crittenton will be leaving Los Angeles and should arrive in Atlanta early Tuesday. He also maintains his client's innocence...

Atlanta police obtained a murder warrant for Crittenton in the Aug. 19 shooting of 22-year-old Jullian Jones. Police say Jones was walking with two men when she was shot and they believe one of the men with her was the target.

Crittenton was, allegedly, in the process of trying to track down the individual or individuals that he thought stole some personal effects...

FOSG's Deidra Dukes and Russ Spencer explain...
((HT: MyFoxAtlanta))

Former Ga. Tech Player Wanted by FBI: MyFoxATLANTA.com

**UPDATE** 8:30 a.m Tuesday--- 

In retrospect, perhaps the former Georgia Tech star and NBA washout shouldn't have announced he was coming back.

The reason....the FBI was there waiting for him before he boarded his flight to Atlanta...and arrested him on the spot. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constistution says Crittenton was taken into custody without incident. There is not yet an indication when he will be extradited back to Atlanta.

MyFoxAtlanta has the update:

FBI: Ex-NBA Player Crittenton Arrested in Calif.: MyFoxATLANTA.com

NC State settles for Mark Gottfried

Mark Gottfried/Courtesy: al.com

Congratulations. Wow, that's an inspired choice. Oh, wait, there weren't any "Big Name" coaches left? Really, did someone tell Debbie Yow that?

Well, the day after the NCAA Championship game, North Carolina State has found their man....at least for now. And that man is former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. To his credit, Gottfried did get 'Bama to the NCAA Tourney 5-times in 11-years. Not stellar, but what can you do?

NBC-17 in Raleigh confirms the story RIGHT HERE

Apparently there is a 5pm presser scheduled in Raleigh for the announcement.

Sorry about the facetiousness of the beginning of this story, but we find this somewhat funny. The Wolfpack alumni just assumed that after letting go Sidney Lowe that great coaches would just flock to them. They didn't. And they never were going to.

While we understand they had success back in the 70's and 80's and few odd moments since, this isn't a "Top Level" ACC job. Can Gottfried get them to the North Carolina/Duke level? We doubt it. He couldn't get Alabama over the top, does anyone think that is going to change?

Basketball fans and in particular college fans need to understand, unlike football, the playing field is pretty even in hoops. There is no "BCS" keeping the mid-majors from competing for a title. And that's why NCAA Hoops is fun. Neither Butler....nor VCU would ever have been in the Tournament, much less the Final Four if Basketball worked like football does.

In the meantime, Wolfpack fans, enjoy your Mark Gottfried. We wish you luck. Maybe he will stumble across that miracle recruit than will bring you back to your past glory. But don't hold your breath...

Most of you...and us are probably too old to remember David "Skywalker" Thompson and when NC State was huge. Here's a reminder:

Matt Painter Has A Decision To Make

[HT: purdue.rivals.com, indystar.com]

Matt Painter has two schools bidding for his services, his current employer Purdue and Missouri.

Purdue seems to be willing to make Painter very happy. Painter's current contract has a guaranteed salary of $1.3 million but his salary isn't the issue but resources for the men's basketball program is.

The Boilermaker brass seams to be willing to please Painter.

"Last night (Monday), the Board of Trustees, President (France) Cordova and (athletic director) Morgan Burke clearly demonstrated Purdue University's commitment to him and our men's basketball program." Purdue assistant athletics director Tom Schott said of the school's behalf to Purdue's Rivals.com site. "We were proactive and though we will not go into details at this time, we have encouraged Matt to stay through our words and action."

"Proactive means they gave him more money," former Purdue coach Gene Keady said Tuesday morning to the Indianapolis Star. "But money's not keeping him from thinking about Missouri." "It's about having the opportunity to win a national title with the backing of everyone. He wants to know if an assistant coach needs a car, he can get it. If something needs to be done, they'll do it, so he doesn't have to worry about all the nickel and dime stuff."

Missouri officials will meet with Painter today in Florida where the current Purdue coach is vacationing and might offer a contract. Painter may be offered the same numbers that Mike Anderson was offered to stay at Mizzou, at least $2 million for 7 years. In any case, Painter has a decision to make.

Photo Courtesy: Purdue University

Doofus Cheerleader Nearly costs Louisville a game

The Incident Screen Grab/Courtesy: SBNation.com

Jordan Alcazar, a male cheerleader at the University of Louisville will be hearing about this for the foreseeable future.

The "3rd Year" cheerleader did something really stupid on Sunday. At the end of the Louisville/Pittsburgh game, he ran on the court after a Louisville dunk with 0.5 seconds left in OT, which gave the Cardinals a five point lead. The problem. Alcazar ran on the court, grabbed the ball after the dunk and threw it in the air. The BIGGER problem....the game wasn't over.

Alcazar got a technical, Pitt got to shoot two free-throws, making it a 3-point game. They couldn't hit a three at the buzzer to tie it, but imagine if they did....

The story from the Louisville Courier-Journal RIGHT HERE

And video of the "Cheeerleader Incident"



Louisville Coach Rick Pitino was less than thrilled after being asked about it after the game. He was politically correct and didn't say anything bad about it, but he looked...a bit ticked off.

Here's the post-game from the Courier-Journal, though you have to sort through a few commercials 1st, sorry: