'Great reflection of the Auburn Family' - Bruce's Barbecue for students on Soccer Sunday

'Great reflection of the Auburn Family' - Bruce's Barbecue for students on Soccer Sunday'Great reflection of the Auburn Family' - Bruce's Barbecue for students on Soccer Sunday

Sept. 14, 2016

By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - Usually, when Bruce Pearl talks about wings, he's referring to guards and small forwards. Perimeter players.

This time, wings means chicken wings.

Auburn's basketball coach, along with his staff, will cook wings and ribs for Auburn students Sunday at 5:30 p.m., before the Tigers' 6 p.m. soccer game against South Carolina.

The free cookout will take place outside the entrance gate to the Auburn Soccer Complex.

"I love to grill, and it's a great chance to feed our students, and show them a little bit of love, and support our soccer team," Pearl said. "It's a win-win situation."

While Pearl is managing the grill, Auburn's basketball players will be serving and socializing with their fellow students.

"It's a great way for my team and my coaching staff to interact with our students, and people who want to support our soccer program," Pearl said. "One of the keys to our success has been the revitalization of the Jungle and the fact that we have a great home-court advantage at Auburn Arena. So we're just trying to support our other sports teams."

Pearl, whose daughter, Jacqui, played high school and travel soccer, plans to share his culinary skills with students again next month before an Auburn volleyball match.

"It helps make our programs stronger. We know that we have a really good student turnout. They'll enjoy the game and being outside at the soccer stadium, and give our women a better chance to win," he said.

Soccer coach Karen Hoppa is a fan of Pearl's picnic.

"It's just a great reflection of the Auburn Family," Hoppa said. "Coach Pearl, it was his idea. He wanted to help generate attention for our game. He enjoys watching our team probably as much as we enjoy watching his team. We appreciate his support. I wish I could go out there and have some of his barbecue, but I know It's going to be great for the Auburn students."

Hoppa's Tigers have won back-to-back games, including their SEC opener last week against Vanderbilt.

"The fan support has been great, and it's something we want to build on as we go into SECs," she said. "We want to get bigger and bigger crowds. Sunday night is a perfect night. There's not much else going on. It'll be cool because it will be evening. And Coach Pearl's cooking, so it doesn't get any better than that."

With an extensive knowledge of basketball and barbecue, Pearl can teach the pick and roll, and talk toothpicks and rolls.

Secret sauce? Not necessary when he's on top of his game.

"People think when you're barbecuing, it's about the sauce," Pearl said. "It has nothing to do with the sauce. It has everything to do with the seasoning and the temperature. If you season them right, and you cook them at the right temperature, you only need a little bit of sauce."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer