Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is in the middle of yet another season of greatness. Now, in his 11th season with Auburn, he has led the Tigers to yet another Sweet 16. Pearl has over 662 career wins, and he ranks No. 12 among active NCAA Division I head coaches. He is also very close to becoming Auburn’s all-time winningest coach.
Next up, Auburn will be going up against No. 5-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16 matchup. But even amid tournament excitement, Pearl isn’t shying away from the hot-button topic of the transfer portal.
Bruce Pearl Offers a Piece of Advice After Tom Izzo’s Rant
Pearl was recently on OutKick, where he discussed the ongoing transfer portal debate. The debate started with a rant from Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. Pearl acknowledged Izzo’s frustration with the portal and how it distracts from the immediate focus of postseason success.
“I loved listening to Tom Izzo yesterday,” Pearl said. “He didn’t even want to take the question about the portal because he is laser-focused on Ole Miss, Michigan, and Auburn. And, you know, he’s probably a little irritated by it because he’s an old-school guy, and I get it.”
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl LOVED hearing Tom Izzo rant about the transfer portal opening up prior to the start of the Sweet 16 games:
“The kids that are in the portal right now gotta understand that if you want to look at Auburn – you gotta wait a little while… my attention is… pic.twitter.com/axFEDuTIKj
— OutKick (@Outkick) March 26, 2025
So, what is Pearl talking about?
For context, Izzo built his Michigan State program from the ground up, relying heavily on player development rather than transfer recruits.
Amidst the March Madness ups and downs, Izzo vented his frustrations, making it clear that his priority is his team’s championship pursuit, not scouting portal prospects. Bruce Pearl understands this emotion.
Pearl has lost ten seniors this season. And he understands that Auburn will have to enter the portal eventually. However, he has no intention of letting it take priority over Auburn’s tournament run. “Yeah, we’re going to need to get into the portal,” Pearl admitted.
“But the kids that are in the portal right now are going to stay. If you want to look at Auburn, you’re going to wait a little while because my attention is completely on our opponents,” Pearl went on to add.
Unlike many programs that have already begun aggressively scouting potential transfers, Pearl insists his staff remains locked in on the tournament. That said, he did reveal that some of his assistants are keeping an eye on the portal to ensure Auburn doesn’t fall behind when the time comes.
As Pearl himself puts it, “We do have a couple of assistants that are doing what they need to do to say, ‘Look, if you guys are interested, Coach Pearl will be available—hopefully in a couple of weeks.’”
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Pearl’s approach is evidently one that focuses on sustaining long-term success through recruiting and staying committed to the players who have fought all season for a deep tournament run.
With Auburn and Michigan State still dancing in March, their old-school approach seems to be working just fine for now.
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