Bruce Pearl visits Home Depot hours after win vs. Alabama, runs into multiple Auburn fans

Bruce Pearl is a man of the people.

In the hours following No. 1 Auburn‘s epic 94-85 road win over No. 2 Alabama inside Coleman Coliseum, the 64-year-old Tigers head coach was on his way to the Pearl family lake house when he took a bit of a detour to pick up some fencing at a Home Depot in Alexander City, Alabama.

While there, still sporting the white Auburn polo he wore during Saturday’s historic 1 vs. 2 showdown, took time to interact with local fans surprised to see Pearl in their neck of the woods.

Longtime Birmingham-based TV reporter Rick Karle relayed the details of the trip in a Facebook post Sunday, and Pearl’s daughter, Jacqui, provided some interesting context about the Tigers coach’s late-night run to Home Depot.

Context. He was headed to our lake house and needed fencing to put around some plants because deer keep eating them. Thought that would have been a today chore, but apparently he couldn’t wait 😂 https://t.co/f0hkju2QCe

— Jacqui Pearl (@JacquiPearl5) February 16, 2025

Turns out, Pearl made the trip to Home Depot to buy some fencing to put around some plants that were being eaten by deer at the family’s lake house on Lake Martin, according to Jacqui.

Karle’s report came courtesy of two Auburn fans — Mike and Tammy Thompson — from nearby Hackneyville who were blown away to see their favorite basketball coach walking the aisles of their local Home Depot.

“It was about 8:45 pm,” Tammy told Karle. “Coach Pearl was very nice and posed for pictures with several people.”

Pearl was just two and a half hours removed from delivering a devasting blow to rival Alabama with a dominating 94-85 victory over the second-ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. It was Pearl’s second consecutive win in the Iron Bowl of Basketball series, and cemented the Tigers as the favorite to become the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Bruce Pearl reflects on importance of No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup against Alabama

Auburn solidified itself as the No. 1 team in the country after beating No. 2 Alabama 94-85 in Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon.

The game marked just the sixth time in history that two teams ranked No. 1 and 2 in the same state met during the regular season. To Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl, that meant almost as much to him as securing the victory.

“I think the thing I’m proudest of is that all eyes of college basketball were on the state of Alabama and the SEC. What this conference has done in men’s basketball is historic. And, you know, you never know whether or not a game can live up to the hype,” Pearl said. “We were very prepared. The coaches did a great job with the game plan. The kids executed early. You’ve got to play well early if you’re going to win on the road.

“We played well early. As you’d expected, Alabama came storming back, and the place was––I’ve never heard Coleman this loud. But it was a really clean game. It was a really clean game, which I was pleased about. Nate talked to his team about that, because that’s how the No. 1 teams in the country should act. That’s how they should compete. That’s how they should play. I was really pleased with that.”

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.