University of Tennessee Athletics
Pearl's Increasing Role A Gem For The Vols
February 08, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2010
BY JOSH PATE, UTSports.com
Steven Pearl isn't kidding himself. He knows he's not supposed to be at the scorer's table checking into a Southeastern Conference basketball game with the score tied and less than five minutes to play. That's never been his role at Tennessee.
But it is now.
Pearl, who is a walk-on with the Vols and, yes, the coach's son, relishes the underdog role. He's accepted it since Day One at UT. But since the Vols removed Tyler Smith from the team and played a month without three other key role players due to indefinite suspensions, Pearl's role has swelled.
"It's definitely changed a lot since I got here," Pearl said of his identity with the team. "It was like, he's Bruce Pearl's son, he's just a walk-on, he's on the team because his dad picked him. So me being able to contribute now, I feel like I'm more a part of the team because I can contribute and be a part of winning, which is good."
His contributions may not be evident with a glance at the stat sheet. Pearl is still averaging just 1.4 points per game. Since January, he's scored in just four games: Auburn (5 points), at Georgia (6), Vanderbilt (3) and South Carolina (3).
Pearl's time on the floor, however, is just the opposite. He has played 123 minutes going into the Vanderbilt game on Tuesday. He played 73 minutes all of last year.
The difference is that he's making his minutes count this time. Since playing 10 minutes in the Kansas game and scoring a clutch reverse layup at the halftime buzzer, Pearl has seen double figures in minutes played in every game since then but one. Pearl said his defensive role is what makes the biggest contribution to the team.
"Obviously, I'm not that big of an offensive threat so for me to have some presence out there, I need to play defense," Pearl said.
And at times, he asks for the biggest task on the floor. At LSU, it was forward Tasmin Mitchell, who is 6-foot-7, 245 points and averaging 17.3 points. At Georgia, it was Trey Thompkins, who is 6-10, 247 and averaging 17.6.
"One thing about him is that he will not let any post player - any player, period - punk him out of position. That's what I like most about him," freshman Kenny Hall said of Pearl. "He's an aggressive player. He played a big part in shutting down the player from LSU, Tasmin Mitchell. Tasmin is a great player and watching him in film with his post moves, he's strong. And Steven practically shut him down."
Hall said he loves that about Pearl.
"He wants to guard the biggest player out there," Hall said. "I look at him sometimes like, who am I supposed to guard if you're guarding the biggest player? He's got a lot of heart and I look up to him for that."
Pearl said it's the role he has accepted the best. At 6-5, he checks in looking like a guard. But at 232 pounds and bulging arms, he's a rock in the paint. That is what has allowed the Vols to stay on track despite the major depth issues faced when the four players were put on the sidelines for disciplinary actions in January.
"Going into it, I sat down and told myself that I've got to prove myself and show everyone that I can play; I'm not just some bum who happens to be on the scout team," Pearl said. "I'm a good player and I showed that in high school but it's been a couple of years since I've been able to go out there. So being able to go out there and just play my game and be more comfortable, that's really gratifying."
One reporter cleared it up well when talking to Pearl after Saturday's win against South Carolina, asking how it feels to go from being the coach's son to just being No. 22 on the roster. Pearl said even he didn't expect things to work out the way they have.
"No one did, obviously," Pearl said. "Being able to help us win has been so much more fun and gratifying because I never expected it to happen. It just came upon me and I was like, you've got to get in there and contribute and help this team."
