Bruce Pearl was living the life, head coach of the University of Tennessee men's basketball team, living in a 10,200-square-foot mansion in Knoxville.
Now he's lost it all.
Since Pearl's no longer the head coach of the Vols, he's been forced to sell his "dream home" in order to downsize.
Pearl listed the home in the upscale West Knoxville community of Gettysvue for $2.69 million; he paid $2.1 million to buy it in 2008.
Following a ride that included Tennessee's first trip to the NCAA's Elite Eight, Pearl was fired for lying to NCAA investigators about a photo taken with a recruit at his home -- forbidden under NCAA rules.
A hero to the students at Tennessee, Pearl was the SEC coach of the year in 2006 and 2008. Born in Boston, Pearl was head coach of Southern Indiana and Wisconsin-Milwaukee before landing the Vols job. Pearl has a 231-99(.700) record in a combined 10 years of Division 1 coaching with Tennessee and Milwaukee.
Pearl told the Knoxville News Sentinel he hosted many charity events in the palace and was even married in the side yard.
His next coaching stop could be in the NBA's minor leagues with the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. Pearl hasn't decided if he'll take that gig, but did say no matter what he does, Knoxville will continue to be his home base.
The former Vols coach has hired a real estate broker to help find a smaller property to stay in Knoxville.
