Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl yells towards his players during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Creighton, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl began his postgame NCAA Tournament news conference on Saturday night by advocating for the release of Edan Alexander, the last living American being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States, is one of 59 hostages still in Gaza, more than half of whom are believed to be dead. Last week, Hamas said it would release Alexander and the bodies of four other hostages held there since its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel if Israel recommitted to a stalled ceasefire agreement.

Pearl, who is Jewish, made the plea for Alexander's return after the top-seeded Tigers' 82-70 victory over No. 9 Creighton, saying he sought his players' permission to bring up the subject.

“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.”

Alexander’s father, Adi, said on Friday that he was more optimistic about the chances that the U.S. could secure his son's safe return.

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 faith and family's migration to the U.S.

“Oct. 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.

“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.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025