Bruce Pearl gets emotional discussing Chuma Okeke injury

Bruce Pearl nearly wasn’t able to get through the postgame interview when discussing Chuma Okeke’s injury and what it meant to Auburn.

Say what you want about Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl, but they one thing no one could say about him is that he doesn’t care about his players.

That was evident in the postgame interview after Auburn shocked the college basketball world by taking out the number one-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels with relative ease in the Sweet 16.

Auburn had everything going their way in that matchup, but there was a sour spot in their otherwise sunny blowout of UNC. Chuma Okeke, who led Auburn with 20 points on an astounding 8-for-11 shooting from the floor, injured his left knee with over eight minutes to go in the game.

Okeke was done for the night, but his teammates rallied over their fallen teammate, putting the finishing touches on their stunning blowout. After the game, Pearl cried when the topic came up about his injured star.

He could barely get the words out, saying, while choking up in tears:

“We’re going to rally. I’ll go hug on him.”

At that moment, he left the floor, pumping his fist in the air toward the Auburn faithful. It was an emotional moment that could make one dive for the tissue box. Pearl is an intense coach, no doubt about that; but, he’s also a coach that deeply cares about his players.

He furthered cemented that by letting the injured Okeke do the honor of stamping Auburn to the Elite Eight.

It wasn’t a celebratory moment like we’ve seen throughout the Tournament. It was more of a somber mood that was cast over Auburn’s locker room, facing the likely prospect that they’ll be playing in the Elite 8 without their injured leader.  It was an emotional moment, but Pearl will make sure that his reflective players will be ready for what lays ahead.