New information and more recruiting violations turn up in the Bruce Pearl scandal

And we all thought Bruce Pearl had come clean.

Nope.

Gary Parrish of CBSSports broke the news this afternoon that there was more to the Pearl investigation. He didn't lie (or just lie) about phone calls. He lied -- excuse me, he provided "incorrect and misleading information" -- to the NCAA about illegally hosting recruits in his home. From CBSSports.com:

Class of 2010 standout Aaron Craft is at the center of the investigation, according to sources. The point guard from Ohio committed to Tennessee in September 2008, i.e., at the beginning of his junior year.

Sources told CBSSports.com that Craft -- along with fellow Class of 2010 prospect Josh Selby, who also was committed to Tennessee at the time, and perhaps another recruit -- visited Pearl's home during an unofficial visit to Tennessee later that same year, which is a violation of NCAA rules because high school juniors aren't allowed to engage college coaches away from campus. Pearl denied that Craft and Selby ever had been to his home when NCAA assistant director of enforcement Kristen Matha initially asked. The problem with that approach was that the NCAA, according to sources, already had in its possession a picture of Pearl and Craft that was snapped inside Pearl's home, which led to the line of questioning in the first place. It's unclear who took the picture or how the NCAA obtained it.

UPDATE: GoVolsXtra has some more information on the scandal. Current UT freshman Jordan McRae was also allegedly at Pearl's house at the same time that Craft and Selby were there. GVX also makes mention of another potential violation, as juniors on unofficial visits are not allowed to receive food and drinks at an off-campus setting.

GVX seems to have also identified the where the lying occurred, as Pearl apparently denied recognizing the picture of himself and Craft despite the photo having been taken in his own home.


I don't have the energy to put together another entire post about Pearl. And while I've heard that there very well could be more to come from this investigation, I think that as the situation currently stands, my argument from this post is still valid. Pearl skirted the rules of his profession, but making excessive phone calls and illegally hosting a recruit are only crimes in the eyes of the NCAA. Depending on what, if any, other news comes out, I may be singing a very different tune in the coming weeks.

A couple of thoughts on this new information:

• Will this cost Pearl his job?: That is the million dollar question. Tennessee had to have known about the picture, and they likely already know about anything else that may come out during the NCAA's, and the media's, investigation. As Andy Katz wrote earlier today (before the Parrish story), Pearl could receive a show-cause penalty while he is still under contract by Tennessee. As Katz explains, "the school has to go in front of the COI to explain how the coach could be on staff while handling restrictions (no contact with recruits, competition, etc.). The committee then could rule that the coach can't participate in coaching activities for a certain number of years."
  
  Most seem to believe that the NCAA will tack on to the punishment that Pearl has already received from Tennessee. If that additional punishment is a show-cause penalty, will the Volunteers keep Pearl under contract if he is not allowed to be a coach?


• Why didn't Pearl just come clean at the press conference he had on Friday?: All the information we had at the time was that Pearl had made impermissible phone calls while recruiting, but he obviously knew that much more would eventually come out. He didn't necessarily lie at the press conference -- he admitted to lying to investigators and that his conscience made him come clean (Does anyone believe that anymore? How many bought it in the first place?) -- but he certainly didn't come close to admitting what actually happened. In other words, he provided "incorrect and misleading information" during the presser.
  


• How will the media handle this situation?: Pearl is generally liked, and as a result, the overwhelming sentiment seems to be one of understanding. 'Hey, everyone does this. Pearl did it to survive in a cutthroat recruiting world. Its a pity, but its the world he works in.' Will anyone rip him?
  


• Imagine what would happen if this had been John Calipari caught up in this mess: Twitter would have melted down by now. Fans, and haters, of Kentucky could have imploded the internet as well. But this is Bruce Pearl, and while people that follow college basketball are going to know who he is, does the sports world in general know, or care, about Pearl beyond his shirtless antics? If this was Coach Cal that was caught red-handed, lying to the NCAA about recruiting violations, you can be certain that every columnist in the country would have a say on the matter.
  
  But Pearl?
  
  Pearl is a goofy, likable basketball coach at a school with no basketball tradition. He's just another in a long list of college coaches that have been busted doing something against NCAA rules. Does anyone actually care?
  


• The ironic part in all of this mess?: Aaron Craft and Josh Selby, the two Tennessee commits that Pearl was recruiting when he committed the alleged violations, both ended up at different schools. Craft went to Ohio State, and Selby is at Kansas, although he is not yet cleared to play. Pearl could lose his job, and stall a promising career, for a couple of kids that he didn't even get to coach.


• Maybe it wasn't the most intelligent thing for Bruce Pearl to take a picture with a recruit during an illegal visit? I'm just sayin'...


• Don't think it would ever happen.