The Auburn Tigers received some shocking news on Monday afternoon with their basketball program according to various reports. As first reported by Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel at ESPN, longtime head coach Bruce Pearl is stepping down and retiring just a month before the start of the season. His son, Steven — who has been on the Auburn staff since 2015 — is expected to take over as head coach for the upcoming season, however it is unclear right now whether or not this will be a permanent move. BREAKING: Bruce Pearl is expected to retire as the head coach at Auburn, sources tell me and @PeteThamel. His son, Steven, is expected to be the head coach for the upcoming season.