Tennessee. At the cookout, Pearl said that Craft wasn't allowed to be there under NCAA rules, but encouraged all those in attendance not to tell anyone about it. When the NCAA began an investigation of the affair, Pearl not only lied about the cookout, but also told Craft's father to lie as well. On September 10, 2010, Pearl acknowledged the violations in the Craft affair, and also admitted lying about it to the NCAA. As a result, Tennessee imposed sanctions on Pearl and his entire staff including $1.5 million in salary reduction over the coming five years and a delayed retention bonus. His off-campus recruiting was also restricted completely from September 4, 2010, to September 23, 2011. On November 20, 2010, the SEC ordered Pearl to sit out Tennessee's first eight SEC games. After finding out about additional NCAA violations, as well as a violation of the school's substance abuse policy by a player, Tennessee fired Pearl on March 21, 2011—three days after the Vols' blowout loss to Michigan. On August 23, 2011, Pearl was given a three-year show-cause penalty for lying to the NCAA, effective until August 23, 2014. This meant that the sanctions imposed on Pearl would remain in force if he was hired by an NCAA member school within that period. Specifically, he was prohibited from engaging in any "recruiting activities", which meant he could not contact recruits, although he could evaluate talent during that period. If a school chose to hire him and challenged the NCAA restrictions, it had to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and "show cause" for why the sanctions imposed on Pearl should not follow him to that school. In imposing the penalty, the NCAA said that Pearl's lies turned what would have been a minor case into a major one. His assistant coaches were also given one-year show-cause orders, in effect until August 23, 2012. On August 30, 2011, Pearl accepted a position as Vice President of Marketing for Knoxville wholesaler H. T. Hackney. Auburn (2014–present) Pearl was named Auburn's head basketball coach on March 18, 2014, replacing Tony Barbee. At the time he was hired, he still had five months remaining on his show-cause order for violations at Tennessee. As a result, he could not have contact with recruits during the summer recruiting period, but could evaluate them. Pearl was greeted by 100-plus fans when he arrived at the