Gus Malzahn recruiting for the Auburn basketball team while Bruce Pearl can’t

When the Auburn Tigers went out a few weeks ago and hired Bruce Pearl to run their basketball program, athletic director Jay Jacobs created one of the more dynamic duos in the college game with Pearl on board and Gus Malzahn heading up the football program which is coming off one of the more successful years in some time.

However with the Pearl hiring, there is still one small problem. Because of the previous transgressions at Tennessee that ultimately led to his dismissal, Pearl is not allowed to recruit because of the show-cause still in place. Luckily for him, though, his new buddy Malzahn has stepped up to the plate and helped in that department.

“Coach Malzahn has gone out of his way to engage prospects and to welcome them and share how excited he is about us being here and Auburn basketball,” Pearl told AL.com. “I look forward to a time when I can do the same for all of our coaches.”

While some might see this as a bit odd, that Malzahn is going out of his way to help out with another sport when he has a big year to get ready for, he doesn’t see it as all that out of the ordinary.

“Auburn’s a very unique place, we’re true family, no matter if we cross over sports,” Malzahn said. “We get extremely close, we try to help each other and I’m excited for him and I’m excited for our Auburn fans, our basketball fans. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch him and get this program to the level that he wants it to.”

For the time being, you really have to start giving credit to Jacobs for creating one of the more tight-knit athletic departments in the country. It really isn’t all that often you will see a coach go out of his way to help out with another sport.