Bruce Pearl, left, with Bonnie Rudin and former NBA center Danny Schayes, will make his first trip to Israel when he coaches Team USA at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.
Photo courtesy Maccabi USA
Editor’s note
For updates on The Maccabiah Games, visit Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports.
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July 9, 2009
Bruce Pearl’s coaching credentials finally caught up with his desire to lead the U.S. men’s open basketball team at the Maccabiah Games.
Four years guiding the University of Tennessee, along with hugely successful tenures at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Division II University of Southern Indiana, put him over the top for a spot he says he’s wanted for 20 years.
“Other more accomplished coaches coached our team,” said Pearl, 49, who earned National Coach of the Year honors in 2008. “[Maccabi USA] has known for years this is something I wanted to do.”
Pearl will be part of a 900-member contingent that will represent the United States at the 18th Games July 12-23 in Israel. The Americans will be among some 8,000 Jewish athletes from more than 60 countries participating in the so-called Jewish Olympics, which are held every four years. Participants as young as 16 will compete.
Opening ceremonies will be held July 13 at Ramat Gan Stadium. Twenty-eight sports will be contested in the open competitions, with 17 for juniors, four for youth, and 13 for masters.
Pearl says he hopes to improve on the bronze medal for men’s open basketball that the United States earned in 2005, but it will be challenging for his young squad to reach the gold-medal game. Dan Grunfeld, a former Stanford University standout now playing overseas, is expected to power the team.
Grunfeld’s father, Ernie, a standout at the University of Tennessee and a solid NBA performer, averaged 20 points as a high school player for the U.S. team that earned a silver in the 1973 Games.
For Pearl, his first trip to Israel will be a family affair: Son Steven is playing for the U.S. squad, daughter Jacqui is the team manager, and parents Bernie and Barbara of Boynton Beach, Fla., are coming along. His fiance will be joining him, too.
Pearl expects it to be a life-altering experience for himself and his players.
“It’s coaching the U.S. team, representing the United States of America in an international competition and coaching the game of basketball, the game I love, and doing it in my Jewish homeland,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
“I’m looking forward to getting off the plane and kissing the ground, thanking the people there for all that they do for us,” he said.
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