Updated: November 19, 2010, 1:32 PM ET ESPN.com news services KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive has suspended Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl for the Volunteers' first eight conference games as punishment for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators. Slive sent a letter Thursday that informed Pearl he is prohibited from participating in practices, meetings and any other activities on Tennessee's SEC game days between Jan. 8 and Feb. 5. "The suspension from coaching duties has been imposed after a careful review of the facts established during the NCAA's investigation and reported to the SEC office," Slive said Friday in a statement. "I am extremely disappointed in the nature of the violations involving Coach Pearl and the Tennessee men's basketball program. "The penalty applied to this circumstance is significant, which is consistent with the directive approved by the SEC membership in 2010 granting the commissioner authority to act in such cases." Tennessee said associate head coach Tony Jones would lead the Vols in Pearl's absence. Tennessee chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in response to the SEC suspension that the school would stand behind Pearl and that nothing had changed, saying that Pearl was Tennessee's "coach for a very long time." Tennessee plays at Connecticut on Jan. 22, and based on the specifics of this ruling Pearl would be allowed to coach in that game and then go back on suspension.
The NCAA can't suspend Pearl until the committee on infractions hears the Tennessee case. That may not happen until the spring as the school waits to receive a notice of allegations in a wider investigation that includes football and baseball. The committee meets quarterly and is set to convene in December, February and then either April or May. Pearl acknowledged in September that he mislead investigators about photos taken of him and recruit Aaron Craft, when Pearl improperly hosted the prospect at his home in 2008. Tennessee also revealed Pearl and his staff made excessive calls to recruits. Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton in September docked Pearl's pay by $1.5 million over five years and banned him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
