Steven Pearl knows the narrative of how and why he's the head coach of an Auburn basketball program that just made the Final Four a year ago. A former Tennessee forward turned medical sales professional turned two-hour, sports-talk radio show host on the Tennessee Sports Network turned assistant coach turned defensive coordinator turned … head coach of the reigning SEC regular-season champions? It's a tongue-twister that just doesn't happen in this era of college basketball, where some razor-sharp basketball minds spend decades toiling in anonymity without earning an opportunity like this .

"I'm fully understanding of the fact that my situation is so unique and so much different than anyone else's," Pearl told CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein on Inside College Basketball Now . "I u

See Full Page