Why Auburn Basketball’s Trip to Israel Was Personal for Coach Bruce Pearl

Basketball coach Bruce Pearl is on a mission both on and off the court.

This summer, Coach Pearl, who is Jewish, took his Auburn University men’s basketball team to Israel on a first-of-its-kind “Birthright for College Basketball” trip to play against Israeli national teams, and visit sites across the country, from the Mount of Olives to the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

As the college basketball season gears up, Dov Wilker, Regional Director of AJC Atlanta, sat down with Coach Pearl to talk about being a passionate pro-Israel Jew at a large Southern university, what it was like being in Israel with his team during the conflict in August, and the reaction he received from the trip.

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Episode Lineup:

(0:40) Bruce Pearl

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Show Notes:

Photo credits: Auburn Athletics.

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