Some familiar faces to the Owensboro and Evansville community will meet in the big dance on Friday, as head coaches Bruce Pearl and Ray Harper will go toe-to-toe once again when Auburn takes on Jacksonville State.
The Gamecocks had an unusual path to get to the NCAA Tournament, earning a berth despite falling in the semifinals of the ASUN Conference Championship. This was because the Knights are currently in the transfer period from Division II to Division I, thus allowing regular-season conference champion Jacksonville State to earn the No. 15 seed on Selection Sunday.
Not long after the Tigers were given the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, setting up the legendary rematch between former Kentucky Wesleyan Head Coach Ray Harper and former University of Southern Indiana Head Coach Bruce Pearl.
“Obviously, I don’t know much about Jacksonville State, but I know their coach very well, Ray Harper,” Pearl said. “I think he got the best of me. I’ve always given Ray credit for that. We were big rivals, recruiting rivals. And they were our arch-enemy, not just our rival. It was very akin to the Auburn-Alabama rivalry. And it was very, very heated at times.”
The two faced off a plethora of times over the span of 5 years, and longtime KWC broadcaster Joel Utley said that Harper and the Panthers won about 13 of those matchups. This included a number of postseason duels, where Kentucky Wesleyan more often than not came out on top.
“Included in the Kentucky Wesleyan 13 wins were three regional tournament victories over USI,” Utley said. “All of that made for a marvelous rivalry because USI and Kentucky Wesleyan were the frontrunners in the conference. And as a result of that, it was always a spirited, spirited, rivalry between the two ball clubs. And the fans, oh they loved it.”
What Utley recalls most from the cross-river rivalry games is the competitive atmosphere that was invented, with two talented coaches and rosters going at it.
“I tell you what I remember more than anything else is the intensity that we enjoyed as fans with the games involving Southern Indiana,” Utley said. “There was a new dimension brought to that intensity when Bruce Pearl came along, because he was one of these fellas who really got involved in the games with his actions along the sidelines.”
With two well-tenured coaches in Harper and Pearl who were known to let their voice be heard in games and the intense demeanor they shared, fans were in for a treat when they faced off.
“He was like you see him on television now, he’s up, he’s moving, he’s jumping, he’s pointing and inevitably his shirt ends up soaking wet because he’s just so involved in the games,” Utley said. “Ray Harper was also involved in the game, but in a lesser, more [stoic] demeanor. He was less animated than Bruce Pearl.”
Fans bought into the intensity and antics of Pearl quite often, including a particular set of fans that made sure to heckle Pearl as much as possible.
“At Owensboro, we had good crowds and they were always close to him on the court…” Utley said. “The Stein brothers made sure they had seats right behind the USI bench. That was when we had the benches right up against the front row of fans and the Stein boys made sure they were right there and gave Bruce Pearl a lot of raspberries.”
Utley remarked that the relationship was something unbelievable and that he doesn’t know how the NCAA made it happen, but he’s glad to see it being resurrected. Pearl said that he’s sure the Gamecocks were thrilled to see that they would have the opportunity to play them as well with Harper at the helm.
“I would venture to say there’s probably not a team in the country that Jacksonville State would rather play than Bruce Pearl and Auburn,” Pearl said. “I’m just telling you. But congratulations to them.”
While this a 2-15 seeded matchup and the likelihood of an upset of Auburn might be low, Utley thinks that the intensity that burned in the Sportscenter all those years will shine again on Friday.
“More than once I’d heard Bruce Pearl say, even when he was at the University of Tennessee, he said ‘of all the places I ever played the Owensboro Sportscenter was the most memorable and the most hostile place’ and he just loved it,” Utley said. “As a result of that, of course you can expect the old fires will be rekindled when these two guys face each other.”
