Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl celebrates victory as Auburn Tigers take on Georgia Bulldogs at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Auburn Tigers men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl advocated for the release of American-Israeli Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity at the start of his post-game conference on Saturday after his team’s win in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

The No. 1-seeded Tigers won the second round of the NCAA tournament by beating No. 9 Creighton 82-70 and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen this weekend. The Auburn University team is one of three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament that have a Jewish coach. All three of those teams, which include the Duke Blue Devils and Florida Gators, won their first- and second-round games and will advance to round 16.

Pearl has publicly voiced support for Israel in the past and condemned Hamas. On Monday, he reposted a message on X by Israel’s Minister of Defense Israel Katz, who wrote in part that Israel “will not stop until our hostages are released and Hamas is no longer in control of the Gaza Strip and is no longer a threat to Israel and Israelis.”

Pearl began his post-game conference on Saturday by talking about 21-year-old Alexander, a New Jersey native and an American–Israeli dual national who served in the Israeli army. He is one of the 59 hostages still held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip after being abducted on Oct. 7. 2023, during the terrorist group’s deadly rampage in southern Israel. Hamas said it would release Alexander, as well as the dead bodies of four other hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 atrocities, if Israel committed to a ceasefire agreement that would lead to a permanent end to the war, an offer Israel rejected and described as “psychological warfare.”

Before even discussing his team’s victory against the Tigers at the post-game conference, Pearl was calling to “bring the hostages home.”

“I believe it was God’s plan to give us this success … to give us this platform; to give me an opportunity to start this press conference really briefly and remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza right now,” said Pearl. “An American held hostage. And there aren’t enough people in this country that know his name. So, I asked the players if it was OK if I started out this press conference and just called out the name of an American. Bring the hostages home.”

Toward the end of the press conference, Pearl was asked by a reporter why he felt the need to talk about the hostages. He responded by again contributing Auburn’s success in part to God and his strong faith as a Jewish American. He also talked about his grandfather immigrating to the United States in 1929 at the age of 11.

“I think what made me say it is — again, it starts with my faith, and it starts with answering the question, ‘Why has God blessed Auburn and this basketball team the way he has all season long?'” he said. “And honestly it’s to, I think, put us in a platform — in this case right now, myself, as a Jewish American who loves his country more than anything else in the world … at the same time, over in Israel, that’s our ancestral homeland for the Jewish people and it’s under attack.”

“It’s under attack. It’s under siege. And all it wants to do is live in peace with its neighbors,” Pearl added about Israel. “And there are some Arab countries that are wanting peace with Israel. But there is a segment of the population in the Middle East that has been doing nothing but attacking Israel for 85 years.”

Pearl then talked about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and added: “We have Americans who are held hostage in Gaza right now. It’s unacceptable … free the hostages and the killing will stop. And that’s up to Hamas.”

On Saturday night, Pearl reposted a message on X that said the two-state solution – which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel – “is dead” because “time after time, the Arab world rejected coexistence with Israel, every single chance.”

No. 1 Auburn will compete against No. 5 Michigan in the NCAA Sweet 16 on Friday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The Michigan team includes Israeli-American star player Danny Wolf, who is being talked about as a first-round pick in the NBA Draft later this year.