SEC suspends Tenn. basketball coach Bruce Pearl for eight conference games

The Southeastern Conference announced Friday that Tennessee basketball coach 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.

Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl has been suspended for his team's first eight conference games this season due to NCAA violations he and his staff committed that were discovered over the summer.
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By Steven Bridges, for USA TODAY
Pearl is suspended from all team activities on the dates of the following conference games:

Jan. 8: Tennessee at Arkansas
Jan. 11: Florida at Tennessee
Jan. 15: Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Jan. 18: Tennessee at Georgia
Jan. 26: LSU at Tennessee
Jan. 29: Tennessee at Ole Miss
Feb. 3: Tennessee at Auburn
Feb. 5: Alabama at Tennessee

Pearl was found this summer 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.

    "The suspension from coaching duties has been imposed after a careful review of the facts established during the NCAA's investigation and reported to the SEC office," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said in the news release. "I am extremely disappointed in the nature of the violations involving Coach Pearl and the Tennessee men's basketball program. The penalty applied to this circumstance is significant, which is consistent with the directive approved by the SEC membership in 2010 granting the Commissioner authority to act in such cases."

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.

    "While disappointed in the severity of commissioner Slive's additional punishment, we respect that he is acting on the authority that the league's athletic directors, presidents, and chancellors granted him earlier this year to address matters of his nature,'' UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton and Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a prepared statement. "As we move forward, we are hopeful the Tennessee family will now rally behind Coach Pearl, his staff and particularly our student-athletes as they focus on the 2010-11 season, and we advance toward bringing this matter to conclusion over the next several months.''
The university is expecting to receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA about the violations as early as December.

Pearl, meanwhile, will continue to coach the team until his suspension begins, then will return to the team for its game against Kentucky on Feb. 8.