Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is this generation’s Sandy Koufax.
Koufax is an iconic figure for American Jews not because of his remarkable achievements as a baseball pitcher, although that certainly helps, but because of his unwavering and unabashed commitment to his Jewish identity. His decision not to pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers because it fell on Yom Kippur cemented his role as a Jewish cultural hero for many American Jews growing up at the time.
Although personally not particularly religious, Koufax prioritized respect for his heritage over professional obligations – including one of the most important baseball games of the year. In so doing, he set an example for Jews of standing up for one’s identity and beliefs.
His move took place at a time when antisemitism was acceptable in much of American society, and many Jews felt pressure to assimilate into the mainstream to “make it.”
What did Pearl do to warrant this comparison?
So what did Pearl do to warrant this comparison? On Sunday, after his Auburn Tigers defeated Creighton in the widely watched NCAA basketball tournament known as March Madness, he opened the postgame press conference not talking about Auburn’s dominance on the boards or its three-point shooting percentage, but rather remembering Edan Alexander, the 19-year-old Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza.
“I get asked a lot how this basketball program has become so competitive over the last eight years,” Pearl said. “But for me, I believe it was God’s plan to give us this success – success beyond what we deserve. To give us this platform. To give me an opportunity to start this conference really briefly and remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza right now… Bring the hostages home.”
Later in the same press conference, watched by millions of American basketball fans, he professed his love for the US as a Jewish American, but also his connection to Israel.
Israel is the “ancestral homeland for the Jewish people,” he said, and “it’s under attack, it’s under siege, and all it wants to do is live in peace with its neighbors. And, you know what, there are some Arab countries that are actually wanting peace with Israel right now, but there is a segment of the population there in the Middle East who have been doing nothing but attacking Israel for 85 years. October 7 was the worst day since the Holocaust for the Jewish people, and they [Hamas] say they want to do it again and again and again. We have Americans that are held hostage in Gaza right now. It’s unacceptable.”
Two days later, Pearl appeared on Fox & Friends, where host Brian Kilmeade said he had interviewed many college basketball coaches over the years but had never spoken with someone so passionate about a cause beyond sports.
Pearl, sitting in an office with two Israeli flags – alongside a basketball net – visible on a bookcase, said since Israel’s creation, there have been some in the Mideast who have “wanted the Jews to be dead, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.”
“I am just grateful to be a citizen of this country and to be Jewish, and we’ve got to call out the difference between good and evil,” he said.
Jews are prominent in every corner of American life: science, law, literature, movies, music, business, politics, you name it. And while there have been some notable exceptions – Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Rapaport, for example – there are few instances when someone has used such a massive public platform to proudly and loudly stand up as a Jew, not only against antisemitism but also in support of Israel.
Imagine if a Bob Dylan, or a Scarlett Johansson, or a Mark Zuckerberg expressed similar sentiments at events watched by millions. Gal Gadot gave a stirring speech earlier this month that began with, “My name is Gal… I am an Israeli, and I am Jewish,” but that was to an ADL summit on antisemitism. Pearl was talking to America – not just a Jewish audience – from Lexington, Kentucky.
Pride and conviction can surface in the most unexpected places. Who would have thought that the torch of Jewish pride and pride in Israel would be carried by a basketball coach from an Alabama university?
To which all we can say is: Thank you, Coach Pearl. And, of course, Go Tigers!