Bruce Pearl said on Monday that he thanked God for the blessing that Him and the male basketball team of Auburn Tigers received when he thought of the idea of speaking for Edan Alexander-an Israeli-American held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Pearl became viral on Saturday evening when he spoke at the team’s post-match press conference after a victory against Creighton to qualify for Sweet 16 of the NCAA male basketball tournament.
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Auburn’s head coach Bruce Pearl is expressed with the media in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, March 19, 2025. (Images Aaron Doster-Imagn)
He explained why he decided to express themselves during an appearance on “Fox & Friends”.
“I was going to go to the press conference and talk just about the game, but I was walking in the corridor with my players and it came to me,” he said. “I thanked God for the blessings we had. And in some ways, he told me about it. He said,” Remember where you come from. Take advantage of this opportunity. “”
“So, I asked the guys:” The guys, if it goes if I rise in the name of Edan Alexander. The only American who, in our opinion, is still alive, has held hostage. “They said,” The coach, there is an American hostage.
Pearl explained that he believed that the Jewish people in the United States are the silent majority, and this breaks the heart to see demonstrations in favor of Hamas.
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The president of the time, Donald Trump, was seen by posing with a photo of Edan Alexander on October 7, 2024 in New York. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
“It breaks the hearts of Israelis when they see the demonstrations in our country and people who support Hamas and support this terrorism,” he said. “We are so close to peace in the Middle East with wonderful Arab nations who want to support the Abraham agreements. But there is a segment of the population which, since the existence of Israel, wanted the Jews to have died of the Mediterranean Sea at the Jordan river and call an intifada. Well, which is just a call to violence and death. silent in this country in this country.
“And so, I just have the impression that a large part of our success in Auburn was because we pray first. We thank God for, you know, for blessings. And, and I am grateful to be a citizen country and to be Jewish. We must call the difference between this good and this 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 are held by Hamas terrorists.
Hamas said that he would release Alexander and the bodies of four hostages held there since his terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 if Israel went to a cease-fire agreement.
“I am asked for a lot how this basketball program has become so competitive in the past eight years,” Pearl said on Saturday. “But for me, I believe that it was God’s plan to give us this success, a success beyond what we deserve. To give us this platform. To give us the opportunity to start this conference briefly and to remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza at the moment. An American hostage and not enough people in this country.”
Auburn Tigers’ head coach Bruce Pearl calls for his team during the first half against the Hornets of the Alabama State in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, March 20, 2025. (Jordan Prather-Imagn images)
We asked Pearl why he felt the need to talk about hostages.
“October 7 was the worst day since the Holocaust for the Jewish people, and they say they want to do it again and again. We have American hostages in Gaza at the moment, and it is unacceptable,” Pearl said. “And President Trump called him and said that if they release the hostages, the murder would stop. Release the hostages, and the murder will stop, and it is in Hamas.”
