AUBURN — In one sense, Charles Barkley wasn't "shocked," he said Monday, Oct. 13, when Bruce Pearl retired as Auburn basketball 's head coach last month. But the program legend indicated some surprise that the change happened when it did.

"I'll tell you the truth," Barkley said at Pearl's annual Bruce, Barkley and Basketball Golf Classic. "We had a conversation probably two or three months ago. I knew he was thinking about it. I don't bug him after that. We had a great conversation after that. But school is starting, the season is starting. I thought he had changed his mind. Then I saw the news. When we had our previous conversation, I knew he was thinking about it. Then we got closer to school and I thought he had changed his mind."

Pearl's retirement was announced Sept. 22, the f

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