Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl thinks athletes returning to campus will help bring the rest of the student body back.
Right now, the biggest debate in sports is when college athletics will get rolling again amid the coronavirus pandemic. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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The SEC has cleared schools for voluntary activities starting June 8, and Pearl believes athletes returning early will help programs figure out what to do with the rest of students.
According to Josh Vitale, Pearl said it helps the school figure out “some trials and some errors.”
Bruce Pearl is pitching the idea that bringing athletes back to campus first gives Auburn University a chance to do “some trials and some errors” before deciding if/how to bring back the entire student body during the fall.
— Josh Vitale (@JoshVitale) May 28, 2020
Here’s the full quote from Bruce Pearl, for context: pic.twitter.com/spjXnK6yh4
— Josh Vitale (@JoshVitale) May 28, 2020
This is such a coach thing to say that you have to respect it. You have to love it. Look, Pearl could even be correct.
With athletes returning, schools will have the opportunity to figure out what works and what doesn’t. It’s not the worst suggestion ever.
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However, it just comes off as a dude with tunnel vision, and I don’t say that as a bad thing. I say that as a sports guy myself.
Pearl is focused on winning basketball games. That’s what he gets paid to do. Right now, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and we have to figure out how to get things rolling again.
Am I suggesting we use athletes as a test case? No, but I do enjoy Pearl’s attitude to push forward at any cost.
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That’s the spirit we need during this time. Now, the execution of that idea needs to be figured out at a safe level, but it’s time to get back to life as normal.