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All those crimes are easily trumped by the revelation that Pearl celebrated Tennessee's deep run in the 2010 NCAA tournament by having Elite Eight rings made for his team.
The News-Sentinel* referenced these rings on Sunday in a story about the now-infamous "bump" violation committed by Pearl and associate head coach Tony Jones just days after Pearl held a tearful news conference apologizing for his other blunders. During his brief conversation with the Tennessee coaches last year, high school junior Jordan Adams recalled Jones pointing to his Elite Eight ring and saying something to the effect of, "You can get one of these."
Granted Tennessee had never advanced past the Sweet 16 prior to the 2010 team falling one point shy of the Final Four, but that's still no excuse for contributing to the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality that this country has adopted. Championship rings should be reserved for conference titles and national titles, though a team making a rare Final Four appearance can probably get away with it as well.
A quick internet search reveals that Tennessee is far from the only program guilty of making rings commemorating an Elite Eight appearance. Members of Minnesota's 1990 Elite Eight team apparently have them, as do those who played on Louisville's 2008 team that fell just short of the Final Four.
And before Kentucky fans start chuckling about their two biggest rivals, guess which one of the sport's blue bloods has a former player selling the Elite Eight ring he earned in 1992 after his team famously fell victim to Christian Laettner's heroics?
That ring will cost a buyer at least $3,950. From a dignity standpoint, making Elite Eight rings cost Kentucky a lot more than that.