Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl earned AP Co-Coach of the Year honors on Friday. Auburn's leading man, who led the Tigers to their second Final Four in six years this season, shared the award with Saint John's head coach Rick Pitino. It was the first time in AP history two coaches received the same amount of votes (20) for the honor.
Pearl became the winningest coach in Auburn history during a 2024-2025 campaign in which the Tigers have already secured program record for most wins (32) in a season. Pearl's Tigers, who have already won three championships - Maui Invitational, SEC Regular Season, South Regional - have as good a chance as any program to win a fourth, and most important, on Monday.
The No. 1 overall seeded Tigers spent a program record 8 weeks ranked as the top team in the AP Poll this season. Auburn never fell outside of the top five after it received the No. 11 ranking in the preseason poll. The love in the polls, as well as from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, was mainly due to the fact the Tigers won a country-leading 16 Quadrant 1 contests in the regular season.
Auburn's head coach navigated a schedule he referred to as the "most difficult in Auburn history" to near perfection. Pearl and his staff led the Tigers into battle 29 times against programs that appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn lost just 5 of those 29 games, two of which were against teams currently in the Final Four.
If Pearl can cap off his magnificent season with an National Championship in a few days, Auburn's 2024-2025 season will be considered one of the greatest of all time for a college basketball program. The road will be difficult, but if any coach can lead a group of immensely talented players to the promised land, it's the SEC, AP, NABC Division I Coach of the Year.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Bruce Pearl earns AP Coach of the Year honors
