Pearl’s lie catches up with him

Tennessee fired Bruce Pearl on Monday after a season in which the coach was charged with unethical conduct for lying to NCAA investigators during a probe into recruiting.

In a statement released by the school, athletic director Mike Hamilton said Tennessee officials made the decision to fire Pearl after learning about "additional violations committed on September 14 and in March 2011" by the staff.

Tennessee has agreed to pay Pearl $948,728 worth of salary and benefits as part of his dismissal agreement.

In six seasons, Pearl, 51, led the Volunteers to their first No. 1 ranking in 2008 and first NCAA Tournament regional finals appearance, missing out on a trip to the 2010 Final Four by a single point.

Pearl acknowledged in a tearful news conference Sept. 10 that he had given investigators false information when asked about a cookout at his home attended by high school juniors. The NCAA has since charged the Tennessee basketball and football programs with a dozen violations.

After a 75-45 loss to Michigan on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Pearl said that he planned to be accountable for the mistakes he had made but his "goal and desire is to be the basketball coach at Tennessee next year and for a long time."

Tennessee had docked his salary by $1.5 million over five years, banned him from off-campus recruiting for a year and terminated his contract in September. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive tacked on an eight-game suspension from conference play.

Hamilton and Cheek had voiced support for Pearl after he admitted lying, but last week Hamilton said Pearl's future would reviewed after the season.

Failing to notify Tennessee of another possible recruiting violation that occurred only four days after his tearful neews conference might have ultimately caused Pearl to lose his bosses' support.

Tennessee officials learned from the NCAA in December that Pearl would be charged with a violation of the NCAA's "bump rule" after speaking with a high school junior on a recruiting trip to Georgia on Sept. 14.

Pearl, who had a 145-61 record, leaves the school as a popular coach.

An unscientific online poll conducted by The Knoxville News Sentinel after Tennessee received its notice of allegations from the NCAA on Feb. 24 showed 70 percent of the 9,600 respondents still supported Pearl. Fans gathered Sunday in a rally to show support, and Knoxville businesses displayed messages supporting Pearl on Monday.

He promoted Tennessee in a way no other coach had before with antics like appearing at a Lady Vols basketball game with his bare chest painted orange. The fans responded with boosted attendance at Vols games, which prompted athletics officials to upgrade the school's cavernous Thompson-Boling Arena and build a new basketball practice facility.

Pearl was hired in March 2005 to replace Buzz Peterson, who had gone 61-59 and neglected to reach the NCAA Tournament in four seasons at Tennessee. Pearl had just led Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Sweet 16 and finished 86-38 overall after four seasons.

■ FLORIDA -- Guard Kenny Boynton, the Gators' No. 2 scorer and best defender, missed practice -- not an ideal situation with Jimmer Fredette and Brigham Young up next in the NCAA Tournament.

Boynton has a sprained left ankle, but coach Billy Donovan said he expects the 6-foot-2-inch sophomore to play when second-seeded Florida faces the No. 3 seed Cougars Thursday at New Orleans.

■ LOUISVILLE -- Senior guard Preston Knowles will have surgery on his left foot Friday. He suffered the injury in the second half of Louisville's loss to Morehead State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last week. Knowles averaged a team-high 14.6 points while being named second-team All-Big East.

■ GEORGIA STATE -- Coach Ron Hunter was hired away from IUPUI (Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis) to take over the struggling Panthers program. He replaces Rod Barnes, who was fired after going 44-79 in four seasons, including 24-48 in Colonial Athletic Association games.