BREAKING: Auburn Tigers' Bruce Pearl Expected to Retire, Successor Named

Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is the winningest basketball coach in the program's history. His 246 wins are 33 more than Joel Eaves who is in second place.

After the Tigers were eliminated from the Final Four in the spring, Pearl said he was proud to coach the best basketball team in Auburn history, and it turns out, it looks like it will be his last.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN reported on X that Pearl plans to retire.

Earlier this month, Pearl said he knew he was close, but maybe not this close.

“Not that much longer. I think it’s kind of a balance of life, of time, of work. I love Auburn. I truly do. Auburn’s been unbelievable for us and our family,” Pearl said on CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein's podcast. “Part of it is, I also want to do it when I’m on top of my game. And coaches, you know, we want to be on top of our game because we owe that to our players and our fans, and as you get a little bit older, you take it one day at a time.”

"BREAKING: Bruce Pearl is expected to retire as the head coach at Auburn, sources tell me and Pete Thamel. His son, Steven, is expected to be the head coach for the upcoming season," Borzello wrote on X.

That Steven is set to be his replacement should come as no surprise. Pearl had been grooming his son to be a head coach, and maybe Auburn's head coach, but it does come as a surprise that it's happening this soon.

”He’s ready”, Bruce told Andy Katz on the The Sideline podcast in June. "He’s ready,” Pearl repeated after being asked if he meant for the Auburn job or any head coaching job.

“I’m getting a little bit older,” Bruce stated in June. “I can still gameplan, like I've always been able to teach and do things like that. It doesn’t (his thought process) work quite as fast as it used to work. And so I've got great coordinators helping me coach my team. It’s a new concept that other coaches should look at.”

If it is indeed Pearl's final season on the hardcourt, he leaves Auburn with three of the Tigers' five SEC Championships, two of their three SEC Tournament championships, six of their 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, and the program's only Final Four appearances.

He'll leave the game as an Auburn legend,

We'll have more on this story as it develops.