Pearl acknowledged in a tearful news conference on Sept. 10 that he had given investigators false information when asked about a cookout at his home attended by high school juniors. The NCAA has since charged the Tennessee basketball and football programs with a dozen violations.
Failing to notify Tennessee of another possible recruiting violation that occurred just four days after his tearful news conference may have ultimately caused Pearl to lose the support of his bosses.
Tennessee officials learned from the NCAA in December that Pearl would be charged with a violation of the NCAA's "bump rule" after speaking with a high school junior on a recruiting trip to Georgia.
Gator misses practice. Guard Kenny Boynton, Florida's best defender missed practice Monday, not the ideal situation considering Jimmer Fredette and Brigham Young are up next.
Boynton sat out practice because of a sprained left ankle. But coach Billy Donovan said he expects the team's second-leading scorer to be on the court Thursday night when the second-seeded Gators face the No. 3 seed Cougars in the NCAA tournament in New Orleans.
"We fully expect him to play," Donovan said.
NCAA tourney ratings up. The NCAA tournament's new television format drew more viewers to the first weekend of March Madness.
The games, spread across four networks, have averaged 8.4 million viewers. That's up 14 percent from last year, when games were only on CBS.
Aggies' Jones honored. Delaware Valley College senior guard James Jones (Bok Tech) was named a 2011 D3hoops.com honorable-mention all-American, the first player in program history to earn a spot on the team as selected by the website devoted to Division III hoops.
Jones led the Aggies to their first-ever Freedom Conference championship and an NCAA Division III tournament berth as he averaged 20.9 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game. He set school single-season records for points (586) and free throws (189) and also set an NCAA Division III record by connecting on 66 consecutive free throws in one year.
New Ga. State coach. Ron Hunter has left IUPUI after 17 seasons to take over at Georgia State, a men's basketball program that has struggled through most of its existence.
