Coach Bruce Pearl of the Tennessee Volunteers was named the 2010 Red Auerbach Coach of the Year during a ceremony at the Final 4 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Red Auerbach Award is given annually to the nation’s top Jewish college coach, as voted on by the members of the Jewish Coaches Association (JCA).

The award came after a very successful season for Coach Pearl and the Volunteers. Tennessee finished 25-8 in regular season play with key victories over #1 Kansas and #2 Kentucky. This year’s campagin was the first time since the 1976-77 season that the Vols had defeated two top-five teams.

The Vols’ postseason performance was even more impressive. After receiving a #6 seed, Bruce Pearl led Tennessee to the elite 8 of the NCAA tournament. Tennessee captured notable victories over #2 seed Ohio State, #10 seed Ohio and #11 seed San Diego State before being narrowly defeated by Michigan State for a bid to the Final 4. This marked the first time in the program’s history that they had ever reached a regional final in the NCAA tournament.

Bruce Pearl receives the award over other four other finalists that included: Seth Greenberg (Virigina Tech University), Josh Pastner (University of Memphis), Keith Dambrot (Akron University), and Brad Greenberg (Radford University).

Coach Pearl was the only coach among the finalists to be awarded a bid to the 2010 NCAA tournament.