For a second consecutive year, college basketball is dealing with a major retirement. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is retiring, and his son, Steven Pearl, will coach the upcoming season.
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett surprised the sport when he announced he was stepping down in October 2024. Pearl’s decision to retire and hand the reins over to his son comes 42 days before the 2025-26 tips off.
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The 65-year-old head coach was at Tennessee from 2005 to 2011 before arriving at Auburn in 2014. He brought the Auburn basketball program to new heights, including a trip to the Final Four last season as the No. 1 seed.
Pearl’s decision on Monday to retire opens a 30-day transfer portal window for Auburn players with less than two months before the start of the season. NCAA rules allow athletes on a team with a coaching change to enter the portal the day after the change. In this case, Auburn athletes can enter starting Tuesday.
According to the NCAA, an athlete who transfers after enrolling at a school cannot transfer during that same year and compete for a new school. Players could now redshirt this season and transfer. The 30-day windows give players a significant head start on entering the portal. Grad students could transfer if they don’t play in any games this fall and be eligible in the spring.
In recent months, Bruce Pearl has been linked to a potential Senate seat in Alabama. The Tigers put together one of the top transfer classes this offseason, adding UCF small forward Keyshawn Hall and Mississippi State power forward KeShawn Murphy. Auburn also returns guard Tahaad Pettiford, who averaged 11.6 points and 3 assists per game last season.
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The college basketball transfer portal is scheduled for 30 days during the spring of the 2024-25 academic year. The portal is scheduled to open after the second round of the NCAA Tournament and conclude before the end of April. That remains tentative if the NCAA opts to enact new rules around the college basketball transfer portal.
Auburn has exhibition games scheduled with Oklahoma State and Memphis in October, with the season tipping off on Nov. 3 against Bethune-Cookman.
