Tom Crean New Head Man For Georgia Bulldogs Basketball

With the announcement of Tom Crean as the new Head Coach for the Georgia Bulldogs Men’s Basketball team, a new era begins. And questions still persist.

After a public refusal from Thad Matta, the Georgia Bulldogs continued the search for a new Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Enter, Tom Crean. The new HC was announced on the Ides of March. Fan reaction has been mixed, and it surely was a big swing for the UGA Administration and for Athletic Director Greg McGarity. Questions remain as to whether it will work.

So, let’s get this out of the way. Technically, trading Mark Fox for Tom Crean isn’t really all that bad. On paper. Crean has a fairly decent resume, and has had success at places where they demand it. He also got fired from his last job. Kind of like Mark Fox, who is now at Colorado State.

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Fox is respected in coaching circles, as is Crean. In fact, one major thing Tom Crean brings to UGA is credibility. One of the arguments against going out and getting a dude from a “Mid-Major” is that the translation to success in a major conference, and the SEC is that these days in basketball, is not guaranteed.

So, that’s there. But there are serious and legitimate questions about the hire. To pretend otherwise is to be unduly optimistic or naive.

The main question for me is in recruiting. The last two Head Coaches for Georgia have had serious problems recruiting the State of Georgia, and the Atlanta area, specifically. It’s a tragic deficiency that will always point to coming failure. For the Georgia Bulldogs to be consistently successful, they have to recruit locally. The talent is there just like in football. You fail there, you fail on the court in the future. It’s simple.

And for those who argue, “Georgia Basketball has never been really great. What did you expect?”, my response is to hire someone who can recruit Atlanta. It’s simple.

Can Tom Crean recruit Atlanta? No one knows. That’s a big unknown for a coach that comes with a big resume, reputation, and expectation.

The other major question involves AD McGarity himself. Dude’s contract is up in 2019, and there is no strong indication that he will be in Athens after next year. With that in mind, the courtship, and subsequent hiring, of an established coach makes sense. If McGarity is going down, he isn’t going down with a coach who has to prove himself in Year 1.

That is totally understandable. But reality is that Crean is not the kind of coach, that I know of, who has a history of going into his first season and elevating a program immediately. Not decisively, anyway.

But that’s what is needed. Next year is a big year for the team and for McGarity. Naturally, there is a grace period and honeymoon period for new coaches. And, rightfully so.

All things Men’s Basketball in Athens, though, will need to get traction quickly. Fans and folks with money, who will be pressuring McGarity’s situation either way, will be watching.

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The Tom Crean hire was a solid hire on paper. Whether it was a successful one is to be determined. And very soon we’ll know if the Ides of March was just coincidence or a harbinger of things to come.

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