Bruce Pearl joins Knoxville wholesale grocery company as VP marketing

Less than a week after receiving a three-year, show-cause penalty from the NCAA's committee on infractions, former Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has decided to leave the sport and head into the private sector.

Pearl said in a statement Tuesday that he is turning down a job offer to coach the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks' D-League franchise, and instead is joining H.T. Hackney Co. in Knoxville, Tenn., as vice president of marketing.

A news release from the wholesale grocery company cited Pearl's marketing and economic background as a student at Boston College. He will begin work there Thursday.

Andy Katz