Joe, I checked Wikipedia, and you are absolutely right. During the 1988-89 season, while an assistant at Iowa, Pearl was recruiting a player named Deon Thomas, who was also in Illinois's sights. When Thomas picked the Illini over Iowa, Pearl called him up and recorded his phone conversation, during which he asked Thomas if he'd been offered an SUV and cash by Illinois assistant Jimmy Collins. Thomas supposedly indicated that he had. Pearl turned the tape over to the NCAA, but during the investigation Thomas denied the allegations. A subsequent lie detector test supported this denial, and the NCAA did not find Illinois guilty of any wrongdoing, and went so far as to state that the proof provided by Pearl was not "credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs". The NCAA did uncover other violations, however, and cited Illinois with a "lack of institutional control" charge, and implemented several recruiting restrictions, plus a one-year post-season ban on the school.
According to the Wiki article, this incident led to a blackballing of Pearl by many D-1 coaches, and Dick Vitale referred to his actions as "career suicide" during a telecast.
Well, Dickie V was wrong, but it seems that once again Bruce Pearl has shown himself to NOT be a "reasonably prudent" person.
Good call, Joe, and thanks for the heads-up.
