It’s not the only bogus tweet trying to trick people into thinking Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele is leaving for Butler.
But it’s the only one TNT and CBS college basketball analyst Bruce Pearl appears to have fallen for.
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Pearl quote-tweeted Markus Walters, known for tweeting misinformation.
“Great Hire!” Pearl tweeted. “Known Travis since his AAU days in Indy. Butler was our biggest rival when i was at Wisconsin Milwaukee. Mad respect for the school, their basketball tradition and the kids that go to school there! I’m a very proud evil step mother!”
Butler head coach Thad Matta announced he’s retiring.
SMU Mustangs head coach Andy Enfield, whose team is facing the RedHawks in an NCAA Tournament First Four game at University of Dayton Arena, said Miami deserved its first at-large bid since Wally Szczerbiak‘s 1999 Sweet 16 team, and critics of the RedHawks should shut up.
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The RedHawks are scheduled to face SMU on Wednesday, March 18, at 9:15 p.m. Eastern.
Former UNC standout Tyler Hansbrough was among those insisting that the RedHawks didn’t deserve an at-large bid.
Szczerbiak, Pearl’s TNT/CBS colleague, said during the network’s “NCAA March Madness bracket breakdown” that he was “very surprised” the RedHawks were sent to Dayton.
As the RedHawks heard their name called on March 15, CBS analyst Seth Davis said Miami received the final at-large bid available. NCAA Tournament selection committee chairman Keith Gill clarified a short time later that North Carolina State, Texas and SMU were ranked lower than Miami by the committee.
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Pearl said March 8 that he wasn’t rooting for the RedHawks to win the Mid-American Conference tournament, because he wanted the league to get two bids for the first time since 1999.
During a TNT Sports interview March 7 with RedHawks head coach Travis Steele, Pearl agreed to pay the amount of Steele’s fine from the MAC for a halftime tantrum at Western Michigan, to Steele’s favorite charity.
Pearl, who emerged as a critic of the RedHawks by suggesting they wouldn’t be as deserving of an at-large bid as some power-conference teams, celebrated Miami’s 31st win of the season with a tweet.
Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bruce Pearl falls for bogus Travis Steele-to-Butler tweet
