Hoops in the Holy City: Talking Offense with Auburn’s Bruce Pearl in Jerusalem

In August 2022, Bruce Pearl and his Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team made history. They weren’t traveling to a preseason tournament or a foreign training camp just for scrimmage work. Instead, they boarded a plane to Israel — the Holy Land — for what would become one of the most impactful and unconventional offseason experiences in college basketball history.

This was not just another foreign tour allowed every four years by NCAA rules. For Pearl, a proud Jewish-American coach, this was deeply personal — a homecoming of sorts. Dubbed the “Birthright for College Basketball,” the 11-day trip saw the Tigers travel across Israel to cities like Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. While they played three exhibition games against Israeli all-star squads, the real mission extended far beyond the hardwood.

Pearl had a goal: use basketball as a vehicle to teach his players about faith, culture, conflict, peace, and brotherhood. “I want these kids to see with their own eyes — not through the filter of media — what this place really is,” Pearl said. “You can’t explain Israel. You feel it.”

Their journey began with a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where players wrote notes, touched the ancient limestone, and stood silently, moved by the magnitude of the moment. For many, it was the first time they had ever traveled outside the United States, much less walked into a place that bore the literal fingerprints of millennia.

“It brought me to tears,” said Auburn forward Jaylin Williams. “Just being in the presence of something that old, that spiritual — you can’t help but feel small, but connected.”

Coach Pearl, who led the players through historical context at each stop, became part historian, part preacher. “This is our history. This is where our people, and many others, come from,” he told the team as they stood in Jerusalem. “You may not all be Jewish, but this is still your world, too.”

Pearl’s passion for teaching — both basketball and life — is rooted in clarity amid chaos. His signature offense, which often features quick transition, five-out spacing, constant movement, and frequent ball screens, thrives on controlled disorder. He often tells his guards to “go fast but stay smart,” and encourages wings to read rather than react.

“In Israel, where basketball is often very system-based, with rigid half-court sets, we wanted to push tempo,” Pearl said. “I wanted our guys to learn to be fluid against structure. That’s the essence of our system.”

Against the Israeli National Team, the Tigers pushed the pace early, but struggled against zone defenses and high-pressure traps. Pearl used those moments to illustrate his teaching points. “Our offense is about reads, not plays,” he told the team after a particularly sluggish stretch. “If you know your options and your spacing, you can adapt to anything.”

Auburn improved in each outing, culminating in a high-scoring win over the Israel Select team in Tel Aviv. Pearl used lineups he hadn’t tried in practice, including small-ball rotations with three guards and freshman bigs like Yohan Traoré stretching the floor.

One of the most powerful and unexpected moments of the trip happened along the banks of the Jordan River. Several Christian players, including stars like Wendell Green Jr. and Allen Flanigan, chose to be baptized in the river where Jesus is said to have been baptized by John.

Pearl, standing nearby, didn’t speak as a coach, but as a fellow believer in spiritual growth. “That was their decision,” he said later, visibly emotional. “But it reminded all of us how important it is to understand each other’s faith journeys.”

It wasn’t just the baptisms that deepened the players’ bonds. Throughout the trip, players and coaches engaged in nightly discussions on history, religion, and culture. They asked hard questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, about antisemitism and faith, about identity and community.

“These young men left the U.S. as teammates. They came back as brothers,” Pearl said.

Pearl is known as a motivator, but his offensive system is what often sets his teams apart. “People forget — I started as an assistant under Tom Davis. We pressed full court and scored in transition. That’s always been in my DNA.”

But the Holy Land trip gave him a fresh way to teach it. “When you’re immersed in something that challenges your worldview, it sharpens your instincts. That’s what I want for them on the court, too.”

Pearl emphasized “positionless offense” during the trip, often giving freshman Tre Donaldson the green light to attack early in the shot clock. “We have to be willing to trust each other,” Pearl said. “That means spacing properly, cutting with purpose, and making the extra pass.”

Even amid the intensity of the games, Pearl frequently shouted encouragement in Hebrew — “Kadima!” (“Forward!”) or “Yalla!” (“Let’s go!”). The players picked up phrases, too, and used them in huddles. “It felt like we were a part of something much bigger,” said center Dylan Cardwell.

Perhaps no event better embodied the spirit of the trip than the Enes Freedom Unity Basketball Camp in Jerusalem. Organized with NBA veteran Enes Kanter Freedom, the camp welcomed children from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze communities. Auburn players ran drills, played pickup games, and gave away gear — but more than anything, they listened.

“We met kids who had never played with someone outside their religion,” Pearl said. “In two hours, they were laughing, passing the ball, working together. That’s what basketball can do.”

Enes Freedom, a fierce advocate for human rights, praised Pearl’s leadership. “He’s not just a coach. He’s an ambassador of peace,” Freedom said.

The trip also planted the seed for what Pearl hopes will become a lasting legacy: the Abraham Accords Cup. Inspired by the U.S.-brokered peace agreements between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and other Arab nations, Pearl envisions a college basketball tournament that would bring together American teams and schools from Abraham Accord signatories to compete in Israel.

“Sports can do what politics can’t,” Pearl said. “Imagine Auburn, Duke, or Kentucky playing in Tel Aviv against teams from Dubai or Cairo. Think of the message that sends to the world.”

The idea has drawn interest, with Israeli officials and athletic organizers expressing enthusiasm. Pearl is committed to seeing it through. “If we can build something lasting from this trip — something that makes the world even slightly more peaceful — that’s the championship I want.”

In the months following the journey, Auburn’s basketball program saw gains both on and off the court. The team chemistry was palpable, and the Tigers posted one of the SEC’s best records during the regular season. Pearl credits much of that to the team’s time in Israel.

“We talk about legacy a lot in coaching,” Pearl said. “But legacy isn’t banners. It’s what these young men become. It’s who they help. What they lead. That trip changed us.”

More importantly, it sparked a movement. Other programs, including Florida State and Michigan, began exploring international cultural tours. Some have even contacted Auburn about using the Israeli trip as a model.

Pearl, meanwhile, has become more than just a college coach. He’s emerged as a cultural ambassador — one who sees no contradiction between building a top-tier offense and shaping young lives with purpose.

“I’m a coach, yes. But I’m also a teacher,” he said. “And what we saw in Jerusalem — what we felt — that’s a lesson I want them to carry forever.”