Auburn coach says players backed decision to highlight last living American hostage in Gaza – Washington Examiner
Auburn coach says players backed decision to highlight last living American hostage in Gaza
Auburn University men’s basketball Head Coach Bruce Pearl said his players fully backed his decision to remind the millions of people watching March Madness of Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza.
“I was gonna go to the press conference and talk just about the game, but I was walking down the hall with my players, and it came to me,” Pearl told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News’s Fox and Friends. “So, I asked the guys, ‘Is it okay if I bring up Edan Alexander’s name?’”
“They said, ‘Coach, there’s an American held hostage. We know how much you care about it. Absolutely mention his name.’”
Alexander, 19, was kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Pearl said he made the comment because too few people knew the teenager’s name.
“I believe it was God’s plan to give us this success. To give men an opportunity to start this press conference really briefly and remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza right now,” Pearl told the press after his team defeated Creighton University Saturday.
His comments received wide support from Jewish Americans.
“We are a silent majority in this country,” Pearl told Kilmeade. “I just feel like so much of our success at Auburn has been because we pray first. We thank God for the blessings, and I’m grateful to be a citizen of this country and be Jewish.”
“We gotta call out the difference between this good and this evil, and, you know what, Brian, we’re close to getting the hostages home. President Trump is absolutely leading the way, and he’s making a very clear decision for Hamas. …Release the hostages, and there’s a chance for peace.”
Pearl reveres the right to free speech but thanked President Donald Trump for his leadership in taking action against the pro-Hamas presence on U.S. college campuses that call for the elimination of Israel.
“I’m an example about being able to have free speech, and so I think there should be able to have protests in this country. It’s what’s made our country great, but not a call for violence,” he said. “Not for an extermination of a race.”
“The Ku Klux Klan are not allowed to put on white hoods and march around asking for the death and destruction of African Americans. We won’t have it. We won’t tolerate it. I’d be first in line to say this is not gonna happen.”
Auburn defeated Creighton 82-70 to book a ticket to a Sweet Sixteen matchup against Michigan.
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“We’re gonna get ready for Michigan Friday night and then Michigan State or Ole Miss, maybe, on Sunday,” Pearl said. “There are three Jewish coaches that are still playing in this year’s Sweet Sixteen: Jon Scheyer at Duke, Todd Golden at Florida, and Bruce Pearl at Auburn.”
“Don’t tell me this isn’t a great country.”
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