The individual accolades continue to pour in for the Auburn Tigers in what has become a historically great season. Head coach Bruce Pearl, who has led his team to an unheard of 14 Quadrant 1 wins in the campaign, was named to the ‘2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List’ on Friday.
Pearl, who confidently referred to Auburn’s schedule this season as “by far the toughest schedule in Auburn Basketball history and probably in my 29 years of being a head coach”, has navigated the ‘Maui Invitational’ and SEC/ACC Challenge-filled gauntlet to near perfection. The Tigers are in the midst of the longest stretch of holding No. 1 in the AP Poll in program history. The near two month streak of earning the top mark in the AP Poll transcends just Auburn’s long-running program, as the only other school in SEC history to receive the AP No. 1 tab for at least six weeks in a row is “blue blood” Kentucky.
The NCAA Tournament Selection committee is in awe of Auburn’s success as well. The Tigers were unanimously ranked the top overall seed in the committee’s first and only bracket projection, with many members saying Auburn’s resume made the decision “one of the easiest” they’ve ever seen.
Beyond rankings and metrics, Auburn’s head coach has simply been one of the best leading men in the nation this season. The rapid growth of forward Johni Broome, to the point of the senior being considered a ‘National Player of the Year’ favorite, can be very much attributed to the offensive scheme created by Pearl. Auburn’s head coach’s confidence in rotational pieces like Chris Moore and Tahaad Pettiford, the latter of which has blossomed into one of the best freshman in the nation, has led the Tigers to success as well.
Fifteen total college basketball coaches were named to the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List, with Missouri’s Dennis Gates and Florida’s Todd Golden completing the trio of SEC head coaches on the list. St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, Wisconsin’s Greg Gard, and Drake’s Ben McCollum highlight other favorites for the award.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Bruce Pearl named to Coach of the Year Watch List
