Why Tennessee has to keep Bruce Pearl

The NCAA's report last week may have been the final nail in Bruce Pearl's UT coffin. The problem was not the BBQ Pearl hosted, lied about and then confessed to (which is quite a problem to not be the problem), but instead the revelation that Pearl committed another recruiting violation four days after his tearful press conference. If AD Mike Hamilton was willing to ignore the first transgressions, he would seemingly be hard-pressed to do so toward the subsequent one.

But he should.

Here is why: Tennessee fans have suffered through good, clean coaches who got us onto the NIT bubble year after year. We don't want to go back there.

For that reason alone, Vols fans have continued to support Pearl even as it seems he might have actually been the used car salesman he sometimes came across as. Why else would UT fans stick with a guy who had to sit out eight games? Who could very well get the school put on probation? Who has soiled our already lousy national reputation (see: Kiffin, Lane)?

For better or worse, we're with Pearl. Because it is a whole lot better than it used to be. Better than Buzz Peterson. Or Jerry Green. Or Wade Houston.

Those guys didn't lie to the NCAA, but they also didn't win enough games or fill the seats or make Tennessee basketball relevant.

Bruce Pearl has done all of those things. Pearl gets rope and lots of it for earning a #1 ranking, for taking UT to the Elite Eight, for five straight NCAA appearances, for beating Memphis, Kansas, and Kentucky (all #1 at the time).

Here is what I'm proposing for Pearl and the Vols going forward:

What if Bruce Pearl became Tennessee's Jerry Tarkanian?

 Tark the Shark could coach - no question. He made UNLV a powerhouse. Before Tarkanian - nothing. Since - nothing. Tark brought a championship to Vegas, built one of the best college teams ever (Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson, and Stacey Augmon on the same team, with Anderson Hunt on the perimeter...nasty), and made the Runnin' Rebs relevant.

Look at what Pearl has done for Tennessee - not quite the same level of achievement, but certainly heading in that direction. What if Pearl became Tark? What if the Vols were always in the sights of the NCAA, but winning at the same time? What if the hammer came down after multiple SEC titles and even a National Championship?

As a Tennessee fan, would you trade that scenario for fewer wins but a better reputation? Would you trade Bruce Pearl for Buzz Peterson?

At this point, Tennessee should sell its soul and stick with Pearl. There is a chance Pearl could get UT in big NCAA trouble and then bolt to become an NBA assistant (Kelvin Sampson, anyone?), but that is the chance we take. Of course, we aren't Indiana. We aren't even UNLV. We're Tennessee - our basketball tradition is losing to Kentucky and hosting NIT first-round games. That is why Tennessee must stick with Pearl, even if he eventually sinks the ship.

Besides our soul and dignity, what have we got to lose?