“Bruce Pearl and Auburn are such a blessing”: Fans emotional as Tigers give Christmas surprise to little fan battling cancer

Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers planned a heartwarming gesture for one of their fans as a Christmas surprise. The program invited Hayes Hunter, an AUTLIVE recipient battling cancer, for an unplanned trip to the team locker room. The players jumped in excitement and cheered the 10-year-old.

As Pearl briefly touched on Hunter's resilience, the players lifted him for a brief crowd-surfing moment. With that, behind demonstrations from a few players, Hunter also led the team huddle and chants in the locker room.

Fans stormed the comment section of the reel with their raw sentiments:

"WOW !!!!! Soooo awesome !!! Some special guys right there !!!!!" a fan wrote.

"This special team is winning on and off the court ❤️," another fan commented.

"Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Basketball team are such a blessing to our family and so many! War Eagle #autlive," another fan wrote.

More fans joined in to appreciate Bruce Pearl and Auburn's initiative:

"Love every second of this! So proud of you- war eagle!!," a fan commented.

"Just One more reason I Love AUBURN !!!🧡💙🧡💙🦅🦅," another fan wrote.

"This is amazing 👏🏾 God heal this young boy.," another fan commented.

Fans' comment on Auburn Tigers' IG reel

Bruce Pearl voices his concerns with NIL and the transfer portal

Bruce Pearl voiced his concerns about the NIL and transfer portal while appearing on Fox News' 'Special Report.' Coaches like John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski have also criticized the Name, Image and Likeness rules. His concerns stemmed from the damage players are facing on the academic front in their college years.

"Graduation rates have been destroyed because the combination of NIL and transfer portal working together," Pearl said.

Pearl realizes that players and families are facing more opportunities to earn now than ever. However, he argues that the monetary benefits have become the sole driving factor and have relegated loyalty, quality of education and other elements to the back seat.

"Understand families being in a situation where they may never make more money than they are making right now, and so that's what they are being guided by. And so we are teaching kids to flee, not fight."

Bruce Pearl also claimed that recruiting players has become more transactional than ever, giving insights on the changes coaches have to endure because of the NIL and transfer portal.