AUBURN — Steven Pearl acknowledged it when he was introduced as Auburn basketball 's next head coach on Wednesday, Sept. 24. The news of his predecessor and father, Bruce Pearl , retiring wasn't handled as the program hoped.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello first reported the news on Monday, Sept. 22, hours before Auburn formally announced the move. It blindsided the program and, more notably, its players, who now have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal.

"We had worked through how we wanted to present it to players, and obviously we were disappointed in how it got out," Steven Pearl said. "We did not intend for it to happen that way. It made an already hard situation even more difficult."

What's transpired since, Steven Pearl said, was conversations with each of his players and

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