On a new episode of Marching to Madness, we caught up with Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.
Topics of discussion include:
- What he senses from his team during their offseason workouts
- Austin Wiley and Chuma Okeke being invited to train with the U19 World Cup Team
- Wiley’s potential breakthrough season
- What needs to happen for Danjel Purifoy and Mustapha Heron to take their game to an even higher level
- The talented new players that Auburn will add into the mix this upcoming season
- Defensive woes and what Pearl’s doing to alleviate those problems
- The team’s trip to Italy in August
- So much more
There’s simply no doubt that Auburn has the makeup of an NCAA Tournament team next season. Of course, as Pearl mentions in the interview, getting better on defense is going to be the key to that actually happening.
I’ve already talked about how Wiley could have a monster season, and if the new guys can immediately contribute on both ends of the floor, the Tigers are going to once again have great depth.
And it’s worth reminding everyone that Pearl is nowhere near the hot seat. Unrealistic fans and uninformed members of the national media have somehow gotten in their heads that Pearl must make an NCAA Tournament run or risk losing his job.
That isn’t even close to being true.
Pearl led Auburn to its second-highest win total since 2003 last season, and he’s not going anywhere.
Click the play button below to listen to our entire interview with Pearl.
You can subscribe to the Marching to Madness podcast on iTunes to get all of our interviews with coaches all around the country.