Pearl Jam

Interesting situation with Bruce Pearl, who'll be docked about $1.5 million over the length of his current contract after admitting to lying to the NCAA. That's a lot of dimes back. His original crime? Excessive phone calls to recruits. Sound familiar? (Yes, I know, there is a lot more to UConn's situation -- most notably, the program's association with Josh Nochimson).

It's worth wondering whether Pearl should actually keep his job. Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, after all, each "resigned" after allegedly lying to or misleading NCAA investigators.

Pearl will still get paid handsomely, and still have multiple avenues to make up for his lost wages. While this seems like a severe penalty, I'm inclined to believe he'd prefer to lose this money than to give up multiple scholarships or suffer a postseason ban, thus hurting his product on the basketball court. The NCAA could still impose stiffer penalties, but I highly doubt it.

Anyway, we'll see Brucie in Storrs this winter. Could be an interesting pregame chat with Jim Calhoun.