University of Tennessee Athletics
Hopson, Bruce Pearl Honored
December 14, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2010
After a dominating win over then-third-ranked Pittsburgh Saturday, the Tennessee basketball team remains unbeaten and in the national spotlight. Head coach Bruce Pearl and junior shooting guard Scotty Hopson both have been recognized with awards this week, while UT ascended to seventh in both major polls.
Hopson scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting--including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from 3-point range--to propel the Vols to their second win over a top-10 opponent this season (Villanova, Nov. 26). The Southeastern Conference rewarded the Hopkinsville, Ky., native with his second SEC Player of the Week award of the young season.
With this latest honor, Tennessee players have now received 26 SEC Player or Freshman of the Week awards during the Pearl era (2005-06 to present).
The Vols' win at Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center--which clinched a 3-1 victory for the SEC in this year's SEC/Big East Invitational--also gave Bruce Pearl a milestone victory for his career. In his 19th season as a head coach, Pearl now owns 450 career wins against only 130 losses for a stellar .776 win percentage. That places him in fourth place among all active Division I head coaches with at least five years of experience.
ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale recognized Pearl by selecting him as the National Coach of the Week.
Pearl could potentially reach another career milestone this season, as he is currently 17 wins shy of recording his 150th win as Tennessee's head coach. Now in his sixth season on Rocky Top, Pearl's Vols have averaged 25.2 wins per year.
