Auburn's Bruce Pearl 'Praying' Hamas Releases Israeli-American Hostage Edan Alexander As Reports Indicate

After being taken hostage by Hamas, Israeli-American Edan Alexander is reportedly headed home, according to multiple reports. 

It was during the NCAA Tournament that the sports world started to hear more about the circumstances surrounding the American being held hostage, after Auburn's Bruce Pearl used his platform to call for the release of Edan Alexander. 

Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, told outlets that there was an agreement reached, and that he would be traveling to Israel in hopes of picking up Edan Alexander on Monday. The resolution to the ordeal was part of "the steps being taken to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings, and allow aid,", according to the head of Hamas’ negotiating team, Khalil al-Hayya. 

On Sunday, as the news of Alexander's scheduled release was being discussed, I reached out to Bruce Pearl about the developments, where he replied that he was grateful to President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also hoping it all comes to fruition. 

"I'm just praying right now that this actually happens," Pearl told OutKick. "Praying for Edan's health and his entire family's welfare. I thank President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu for their commitment to win this war and bring hostages home."

For the Auburn men's basketball coach, it was during the NCAA Tournament when he felt the need to speak about the ongoing situation with Edan Alexander. 

After beating Creighton in the Lexington regional, Bruce Pearl walked to the podium with two of his players to address the media. Before taking to the stage, the Tigers head coach asked his players if it would be OK for him to speak of Alexander to open the news conference. 

"I had no idea I was going to do that," Bruce Pearl explained in March. "You're walking from the locker room to the press conference, and you're walking through the bowels of the building, and you're thanking the Lord, ‘God, what a blessing, thank you for this blessing’, and I don't know what came over me or what I heard. I thought of Edan Alexander. I thought I had his name right. I even checked on Google. I wanted to get the pronunciation of his name right. 

"And I said to our guys, we've given God this glory all season long. I said, ‘Guys, this has just come to me right now, while we’re celebrating, there's an American being held hostage in Gaza, and would you guys mind terribly if I brought out his name'. Tahaad (Pettiford) was like ‘No coach, he’s an American', and Tahaad actually knew he was from New Jersey. They jumped on it right away, saying no problem."

Plenty Of People Used Their Platform, Calling For The Release Of Edan Alexander

Now, two months later, Edan Alexander is headed home, as part of an agreement that will see a crossing into Gaza opened, which will also lead to humanitarian aid being distributed into the Gaza area. As the world continues to watch the violence unfold in the Middle East, it was very important for the Donald Trump administration to get Edan Alexander out of the hands of Hamas, and back home to his family. 

According to reports, Hamas has said it would release Alexander, as exiled Gaza Hamas chief Khalil Al-Hayya released a statement Sunday. 

"The movement affirms its readiness to immediately start intensive negotiations and make serious efforts to reach a final agreement to end the war, exchange prisoners in an agreed-upon manner," Al-Hayya said. 

After nearly twenty months as a hostage, Alexander is finally headed home. There are plenty of people to applaud for stepping up during this time, especially someone like Auburn's Bruce Pearl, who used his platform to continue spreading the message, and saying Edan's name. 

There are countless people who have been involved with trying to bring Alexander home, and now we wait to see if he returns this week.