Gus Malzahn selling Auburn basketball to recruits with Bruce Pearl on sideline

BRUCE PEARL ARRIVES

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, left, stands to greet new basketball coach Bruce Pearl Tuesday, March 18, 2014, at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn is a man down, but Gus Malzahn is stepping up to help the Tigers' basketball program.

Bruce Pearl is unable to recruit and engage prospects because of a show-cause penalty stemming from his days at Tennessee, but the basketball coach is getting help from his colleagues in the football office at the Auburn Athletics Complex.

Malzahn, entering his second year, is volunteering his time to talk to recruits when they visit campus and most recently played an important role in convincing Cinmeon Bowers, the nation's top junior college prospect, to commit to Auburn on April 13, according to AuburnSports.com.

Bowers may not be the prospect getting a basketball recruiting pitch with a southern football twang from Malzahn while Pearl waits for the day he can talk to recruits again (Aug. 24).

"Coach Malzahn has gone out of his way to engage prospects and to welcome them and share how excited he is about us being here and Auburn basketball," Pearl told AL.com. "I look forward to a time when I can do the same for all of our coaches."

Pearl has spent most of his time on campus publicizing his basketball program -- from talking to students, conducting celebrity auctions, participating in a dunk tank for charity or making numerous appearances on regional and national radio programs. Limited to spending most of his time in the office while his assistants recruit, Pearl is also working to finalize the non-conference basketball schedule.

Until then, Malzahn is willing to help.

"Auburn's a very unique place, we're true family, no matter if we cross over sports," Malzahn said. "We get extremely close, we try to help each other and I'm excited for him and I'm excited for our Auburn fans, our basketball fans. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him and get this program to the level that he wants it to."

Malzahn knows a thing or two about coaching basketball. He led junior high programs at Hughes (Ark.) High and Shiloh Christian Schools in Springdale, Ark., while coaching the high school football teams at those respective schools early in his career.

Malzahn can talk hoops, too, and the subject does come up during visits from basketball prospects.

"I wasn't very good," said Malzahn of his basketball coaching career, "but I do understand the game and I enjoy watching it. Bruce Pearl, his name kind of sells itself."

Malzahn didn't quite have the success he experienced as a football coach, but he did succeed on the basketball court. He led Hughes' junior high program to a conference basketball championship in the early 1990s.

Pearl and Malzahn have not yet talked X's and O's, but that day is coming. When they do decide to talk traps, full-court presses and man-to-man defense, they'll discover they share a common philosophy, too. Malzahn utilized a similar attack as a junior high school basketball coach.

"The thing that we've talked about is Auburn Fast," Pearl said, referring to the football program's marketing slogan. "I've been playing without timeouts and huddles for a long time."

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