Bruce Pearl said Monday he and the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team are grateful to God for the blessings he received when Gaza's Hamas terrorists came up with the idea of speaking up for Edan Alexander, which Israeli-Americans took hostage.
Pearl spoke at the team's postgame press conference following his victory over Clayton on Saturday night, going viral when he advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
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Auburn head coach Brue Pal will speak to the media during practice for the first round of the NCAA Tournament held at the Lap Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on March 19, 2025. (Aaron Doster-Imagn image)
He explained why he decided to speak up while appearing on Fox & Friends.
“I was going to go to a press conference and talk about the game, but I was walking down the hall with the players and it came to me,” he said. “I was grateful to God for the blessings we had. And in a way, he told me. He said, “Remember where you came from. Take advantage of this opportunity.”
“So I said to everyone, “Guys, it's okay to raise Edan Alexander's name. They say, 'There are Americans who know how much you care about it.”
Pearl explained that he believes that American Jews are a silent majority and that he has broken his heart to see the protest in favor of Hamas.
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Then-former President Donald Trump has seen Edan Alexander taking a photo of him in New York City on October 7, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“When they see protests in our country, people who support Hamas and support this terrorism, it breaks the hearts of the Israelites,” he said. “We are very close to Middle Eastern peace along with the wonderful Arab countries who want to support Abraham's agreements. However, since the existence of Israel, there is a part of the population that has been dying from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River and dying in the Jordan River, hoping to call for Intifadas.
“So I feel that much of our success in Auburn is because we pray first. And we are grateful for the blessings. And I am a civic nation and a Jew. We have called this difference between good and evil.”
Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier, is one of the 59 hostages still in Gaza. It is believed that more than half of the hostages detained by Hamas terrorists are dead.
Hamas said that if Alexander and Israel recommend the ceasefire agreement, he will release the bodies of four hostages that have been held there since the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
“This basketball program is often asked how competition has become stronger over the past eight years,” Pearl said Saturday. “But for me, I think it was God's plan to give us this success and to give us success beyond what we deserve. Giving us this platform. We launched this meeting easily and remind the world that Edan Alexander still holds hostages in Gaza. Americans don't know his name.”
Auburn Tigers bluespar coach Bluespar will face the Alabama Hornets in the first half of the NCAA Tournament, held at Lap Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on March 20, 2025. (Imagnick images of Jordan Plazer Imagnick)
Pearl was asked why he felt he needed to talk about hostages.
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“October 7 was the worst day since the Holocaust for Jews. They say they want to do it again and again. We have an American hostage in Gaza and that's not acceptable,” Pearl said. “And then, President Trump called it and said that if they just freed the hostages, the killing would stop. They would release the hostages, the killing would stop, and that's up to Hamas.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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