Auburn U basketball coach spotlights Gaza hostages in postgame presser

Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl opened up his press conference after his top-seeded Tigers defeated Creighton in Saturday night’s second-round March Madness game by calling for the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander along with all remaining 59 hostages.

“I get asked a lot how this basketball program has become so competitive over the last eight years,” Pearl said. “But for me, I believe it was God’s plan to give us this success, success beyond what we deserve. To give us this platform. To give us an opportunity to start this conference briefly and remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza right now. An American held hostage and not enough people in this country know his name.”

Asked later what made him want to talk about the hostage situation and the Israel-Hamas war, Pearl — an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump — referenced his Jewish faith and family’s migration to the US.

“October 7 was the worst day since the Holocaust for the Jewish people, and they say they want to do it again and again and again. We have American hostages in Gaza right now, and it’s unacceptable,” Pearl said. “And President Trump called it out, and said if they just free the hostages, the killing would stop. Free the hostages, and the killing will stop, and that’s up to Hamas.”

Pearl has repeatedly voiced his support for Israel on social media, and during a radio interview last month with Dan Bongino, a conservative podcaster and Trump loyalist who has been named deputy director of the FBI, he said he supported Trump’s proposal to resettle the 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza.

By discussing the subject during one of the year’s most-watched sporting events, Pearl took his views to a broader audience.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl opens post-game presser by calling to “bring the hostages home.” #israel #hamas #ncaa #marchmadness #auburn pic.twitter.com/Jb93kYXYEd

— WVTM 13 (@WVTM13) March 23, 2025

“This Jewish American loves his country more than anything else. At the same time, Israel, that is our ancestral homeland and it’s under attack,” he said. “It’s under siege. All it wants to do is live in peace with its neighbors.”

Alexander is the last remaining American hostage in Gaza who is still believed to be alive. The bodies of four other dual American-Israeli nationals — Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Judy Weinstein and Gadi Haggai — are also being held.

Talks between Israel and Hamas to secure their release hit an impasse, and Israel resumed intensive fighting in Gaza on March 18 for the first time in two months.