Pair of Legendary Coaches Make History with First Tie in Award History
For the first time in 58 years, two coaches have tied for the Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year Award.
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl and St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino both received The Associated Press Coach of the Year award on Friday before the NCAA Men’s Final Four. Each coach received 20 votes from the national media panel.
Along with Pearl’s strategic coaching methods, his success can be highly attributed to the all-star level talent surrounding him, including All-American Johni Broome, who is averaging 18.7 ppg and 10.9 rpg on the 2024-25 season.
After spending eight-straight weeks as the top-ranked team in the country, the Tigers were awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Final Four for the second time in program history.
Pearl is the second coach in Auburn men’s basketball history to win the award, with Cliff Ellis winning in 1999. He is also the first SEC coach to take home the award since John Calipari won it in 2015 while serving as the head coach of Kentucky. TG
