University of Tennessee Athletics
Role Play: Steven Pearl
February 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2011
Josh Pate
UTsports.com
The numbers are simply impressive: 21.3 points per game, 8.8 rebounds each night, and nearly three assists per contest.
By just about any offensive standard, that's MVP-type production for a basketball player. Steven Pearl remembers those days as a senior at West High School in Knoxville. He led his high school in Wisconsin to three consecutive conference championships before moving when his dad, Bruce, became coach at Tennessee. The outburst his senior year at West brought on scholarship offers from several schools, but Steven wanted to walk on at Tennessee and play for his father.
Five years later - including a redshirt season his first year on the squad - Steven Pearl is one of six seniors on the Tennessee basketball team. Those numbers from his senior year of high school? They're not as flashy now as a senior for the Vols, but don't judge a player by his stat line.
Pearl is the first to stand up and say he's not going to lead the Vols in scoring. But his scrappiness and defensive aggressiveness are what keep him on the floor.
"It comes with experience and knowing that you don't have a prominent offensive role, so you've got to make your impact somewhere else," Pearl said. "I'll score when I get the ball, but that's not what I'm supposed to do. When I'm out there, my role is to get the guys going on defense and do the little things."
Little things like being the only player diving onto the hardwood for a loose ball in the first half. Little things like pestering an opponent into a bad pass. Little things like, at 6-foot-5, guarding the best post players in the Southeastern Conference to get physical and to give fouls. Or, like against Belmont early in the season, sliding up to play on the perimeter.
"Steven Pearl is not a three man. Newsflash," Bruce Pearl said. "His better position is the four. But you know what, he had to play the three against Belmont in the second half and without him we don't win. He played the three against Pittsburgh and guarded Gilbert Brown. He played out of position. But sometimes that's what it's all about. It's what you've got to do."
Steven Pearl has no qualms.
"I'm a very aggressive player," Pearl said. "I'm a player you hate to play against, but you love to play with. Defensively, my energy, it inspires other guys on the team to start playing better defense. I try to just come in and lift everyone up. That's been my niche."
Critics never thought Pearl would reach this point. He was the coach's son, the local kid, the walk-on who was given a spot on the team.
Not so.
"Now it just shows that I deserved to be out there," Pearl said after a career-defining season last year. "I've had some pretty big contributions to the team. I've done my role. I've done my job and have been a part of some pretty successful teams."
Last season was as successful as it's ever been at Tennessee. The Vols went to the Sweet 16 with a short-handed team for much of the season. Yet players like Pearl stepped in, filled roles, and sent the Vols deeper into the NCAA Tournament than they had ever been before. Pearl's playing time doubled, and he finally discovered his role on the team. Yet when key performers began returning from suspension and injury last year, Pearl's minutes remained intact.
This year the Vols have one of the deepest rotations in the country with 14 legitimate players who could contribute minutes and production. Head coach Bruce Pearl was forced to trim his rotation to 10 men and made no bones about it: He was only going to play those who could rebound and defend. That included Steven Pearl.
Through the transition, Pearl has held his spot in the rotation for just that: defense. And, well, as one of the grittiest players to wear orange.
"It's been an unbelievable run since I was a kid," Pearl said. "I had some offers but decided to walk on to a program for a couple of years and went through the ranks. Now I'm where I want to be."
