By WAYNE PHILLIPS

Sports Editor

Bruce Pearl knows how to work a crowd.

With some 500 people jammed inside the Greene County Fairgrounds' Expo Building Tuesday night, Pearl, when called to the podium to speak, greeted the throng with a resounding, "How 'Bout Them Vols?"

Pearl was guest speaker for the eighth annual Boys & Girls Club's Champions Dinner, one of the club's major fund-raising efforts of the year. He didn't disappoint, arriving early for media interviews and then signing autographs for about an hour as most of the crowd wanted to shake hands with the popular University of Tennessee basketball coach, who has taken the Vols to new heights in just three years on the job.

It was Pearl's second time in coming to Greeneville to speak at the Champions Dinner. His first trip was three years ago, and he hadn't been on the job at Tennessee for two months when Steve Mears, a local Boys & Girls Club board member and son of the legendary UT Coach Ray Mears, came to visit him.

"Steve came to me, introduced himself, and said 'I hear you're interested in getting out in the community,'" Pearl said. "I said I was, and he said, well, I just happen to have something I'd like for you to do. It was to come to Greeneville to speak at the Boys & Girls Club Dinner.

"I said I'd been happy to do it. It was at the country club (Link Hills), and I met Coach Mears for the first time. Ever since that time, Greeneville has always been a special place for me."

A lot has happened in three years. Few fans who showed up for that dinner three years ago could have dreamed what would happen to Tennessee basketball under Pearl's guidance. The Vols have been to the NCAA Tournament three times, advancing to the Sweet 16 the past two seasons. Last year's squad finished with a 31-5 record and beat the No. 1 team in the nation (Memphis) to briefly grab that ranking themselves.

"I had hoped things would go well," Pearl said when recalling his feelings three years ago. "I guess what I wasn't prepared for was the passion of Tennessee fans. Our first game in Knoxville, 22,000 came to watch us play East Tennessee State, and the rest is history. They (the fans) didn't wait to see if we would be any good. They take pride in being the best fans in the country."

Sellout crowds in Thompson-Boling Arena, once a rarity, are now common. Recruiting is at an all-time high. On paper, Pearl said the current crop of recruits is the best he's had.

"They've had a great summer," Pearl said of his newcomers. "But I don't care who you bring in at small forward, they won't be better than JaJuan Smith as a senior. And it doesn't matter who you bring in as a two-guard, he won't be better than Chris Lofton. I'm not downplaying the expectations for our basketball team, but so few people are talking about the fact that we've got seven new players on this team."

There's only one senior on the team (Ryan Childress). Pearl is looking for leaders, and he feels there are several who will lead by example. Two years ago, there was Dane Bradshaw. Last year, there was Lofton.

"You would expect Tyler Smith to be a front-runner (as a leader)," the coach said. "He's not very vocal. But he can lead by example."

The newcomers are five freshmen (6-8 Renaldo Woolridge of North Hollywood, Calif.; 6-1 guard Daniel West of Saginaw, Mich.; 6-7 Emmanuel Negedu of Nigeria; 6-7 guard Scotty Hopson of Hopkinsville, Ky.; and 6-10 post Phillip Jurick of Chattanooga). There's one redshirt freshman (Cameron Tatum of Tucker, Ga.) and one junior college transfer (Bobby Maze from Hutchinson Community College).

Tennessee faces another demanding schedule, which Pearl says is necessary to maintain a top-level program. Teams like Memphis, Kansas and Gonzaga dot the schedule, along with the always-potent Southeastern Conference foes. The Vols open Thanksgiving week at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, a tournament that is chock-full of top-flight teams.

"I think the next step is to get our basketball fans to travel," Pearl said. "That's one reason we chose to go to Orlando. There'll be a great crowd of UT football fans at UCLA this weekend. Fans of the Lady Vols have always traveled. It's hard to get tickets to some of our SEC opponents on the road. But Orlando is a place our fans can get to. I'm calling out our fans to spend Thanksgiving with us in Orlando."

Steve Mears and Daniel Johnson, both Boys & Girls Club board members and co-chairmen of the Champions Dinner, welcomed the crowd. Board member Jerry Fortner introduced Pearl to the audience. Pastor Rick Ohsiek gave the invocation. Scott Bullington, executive director the Boys & Girls Club, made closing remarks, and he and several youngsters from the club presented Pearl with a gift. Major sponsors for the event were Forward Air and Laughlin Memorial Hospital.