Are UGA fans happy with Mark Fox?
Georgia hired a new basketball coach Thursday.
It wasn’t Clemson’s Oliver Purnell or Miami’s Frank Haith, or even Bobby Knight.
Instead, the Bulldogs’ new coach is Nevada’s Mark Fox.
Was this the splash you were hoping for?
Fox, 40, has had success. He took over at Nevada in 2004, after current LSU coach Trent Johnson left to take over at Stanford. He led the Wolf Pack to three NCAA tournaments, the last in 2007, and advanced to the second round twice.
But, with Missouri’s Mike Anderson and Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel being mentioned as early top candidates, Fox is a surprise.
So, what do you think of UGA’s move? Would you have been happier with Purnell or Heath?
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116 comments Add your comment
Big DAWG
April 2nd, 2009
9:48 pm
I thought Gant’s Landing was a St. Simons UGA hang out??…. That’s the last time I visit that joint.
We don’t know that much about this coach, he seems to have a very good record at Nevada. I think as a Dawg fan we’re probably all thrown off due to the fact that this name was not thrown around in the media or Dawg circles. The UVA hire was similar and I think this has to do with the search firm out of Atlanta. They did homework on certain people and I’m sure Fox was in the mix all along. Doubt they just thought of him this afternoon of coffee and donuts. He’s young which is good but the fact that he’s not from this area of the country may hamper recruiting a bit. But I’m sure he can get over that just like many coaches do.
The Clemson and Miami coaching idea sounds like lateral moves. Let’s see if we found a diamond in the rough. Go DAWGS!!!!!!
Gnat's Landing
April 2nd, 2009
9:48 pm
Shut-up hillbilly hound, no one cares about your opinion. Go back to your moonshine still.
te29wr
April 2nd, 2009
9:48 pm
We needed a home run not a bunt. Why not the Nova coach
Cameron
April 2nd, 2009
9:49 pm
All we want him to do is convince local kids to stay home. You know someone who didn’t stay home Aaron Murray and Marlon Brown. I don’t care if McGee was from Nevada or not, he still had to convince him to stay. Against Arizona, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma that is very impressive to me. And yes he was an All-American, I watched him play in the game.
dennis felton
April 2nd, 2009
9:50 pm
man all jokes a side we just hired a coach that loss in the frist round in CBI what fuc@ is the CBI not once but twice i know we could have done better that
Georgia '04
April 2nd, 2009
9:51 pm
I’m excited about the hire.
When this whole thing started I didn’t care if he was white or black, but after reading all of TM’s picks, I gotta say, I think it’s great that he’s white. Then again, I guess it will give TM something to write about.
Macon_Volfan
April 2nd, 2009
9:51 pm
Gnat, the last time Ga Tech played UT, they lost. Besides if you could read, you’d see that I actually live here in GA. My opinion on the SEC means more than yours since you are a cellar dwelling ACC fan.
Jim
April 2nd, 2009
9:51 pm
Despite all the Evans bashing, the Knight-worship, and the baseless predictions of failure to be found on this blog, I like this hire.
And Gnat’s landing, this is for you:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33426
Big DAWG
April 2nd, 2009
9:52 pm
Gnat you’re obvioulsy a spanker
Cameron
April 2nd, 2009
9:52 pm
Sorry, I meant Luke Babbit. 2008 All-American that he recruited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald’s_All-American_Team#2007_Roster
freshd
April 2nd, 2009
9:54 pm
If this guy wins at UGA, he won’t be here long. I give him 3 years at most, especially after he gets to see the real dirty south. This is a west coast guy, and he reminds me of Glen Mason, remember him.
Macon_Volfan
April 2nd, 2009
9:55 pm
really, UGA fans be happy about this hire. The Nova coach, OK, MO, you name it would not come to Athens for basketball. Right now, the program is meant for an up and coming coach. Sometimes it works out when you get that type of coach, like Tubby or like Bruce Pearl at UT. He was a D2 coach and then spent 4 years at Wis-Milwaukee. Look what he’s doing now for the Vols….Fox could be your Pearl!
kauai dawg
April 2nd, 2009
9:56 pm
Probably would have looked better after last years high win total seasons than this one of 21 wins. The WAC is weak so that is concerning. His teams did play hard and seemed well coached. The SEC is much stronger than the WAC so time will tell. I will say he seemed like the best coach in the WAC. Utah State kind of took his thunder this year. Not the WOW from the WAC we expected for sure. He has a major rebuilding job with recruits, high school coaches and fans. Go DAWGS!
Sven Ottke
April 2nd, 2009
9:58 pm
Okay, jokes over. Seriously, who is UGa going to hire? I mean, this is Damon’s big splash right? Who do you think you guys get. I know you really didn’t hire this guy.
Gnat's Landing
April 2nd, 2009
9:58 pm
Cellar dwelling ACC? The ACC has a team in the final four. Can you say that about the SEC? BTW my conference beat yours in your “strongest” sport. So who is really dwelling in the cellar?
Da Dizzle
April 2nd, 2009
9:58 pm
Honestly, does anyone care about GA Basketball? You should have kept that old bald man that took over for Felton and coached the rest of the season.
Gnat's Landing
April 2nd, 2009
9:59 pm
Hillbilly hound why do you keep insisiting this is a great hire a UGAY. Stop being a hypocrite.
Macon_Volfan
April 2nd, 2009
10:03 pm
Gnat, I was talking about the team you support, not the league. The SEC was down this year, but the SEC East now has the best coaches of any division in the nation….let’s look
Pearl-great
Calipari-great
Donovan-great
Stallings-bald, but great
Horn-gonna be great
Fox-really good, could be great, and then go to a bigger school.
Obama's Teleprompter
April 2nd, 2009
10:03 pm
I’m tired of hearing about UGA needing a black coach. Blacks aren’t the only minorities. What about the Cambodian transvestites or Icelandic homosexuals? LOL Seriously, if the guy can coach and win, I don’t care.
GW
April 2nd, 2009
10:04 pm
Gotta’ give Fox a chance. Who did we really think we would get? Biggest problem is that Fox will inherit a worse mess on the court than Felton did. Why must we think that only McDonalds AA from ATL will make a good team? Anybody here referring to wins over BCS schools in basketball is an idiot. Calipari came from UMASS and Memphis. Not exactly BCS powers. Fox’s wife is an associate AD at Nevada. Would she have given that up if he weren’t serious about UGA?
WTF
April 2nd, 2009
10:06 pm
All the blame for this goes to Evans and the fact that we hired the same search firm that put Kelvin Sampson at Indiana and Billy Gillispie at Kentucky, all great moves, right? This hire could have excited the Bulldog basketball fan base, instead it’s the same as hiring another Felton. We aren’t even on probation anymore but it still feels like it. When does football season start?
Stephen
April 2nd, 2009
10:06 pm
How old are you, Gnat’s Landing? The whole “UGAY” thing might be cute on the playground during recess. How is being insistent on this hire being great being hypocritical? I think you might be jealous because GT is still stuck with that hack of a coach Hewitt. Come back when your team wins more than 2 games in conference. I think this hire is going to work out well.
Jesse Jackson
April 2nd, 2009
10:08 pm
Ah, Georgia Fans,”Keep Hope Alive”
john
April 2nd, 2009
10:09 pm
Wow, ajc, you guys were clueless. Goes to show you your sports pages are worthless unless I want to read some BS song lyrics you’re posting. What a f$&*^ing joke you guys have become.
Will in Nevada
April 2nd, 2009
10:10 pm
Just to set the record straight, Babbitt had originally verballed to Ohio St. I remember the 07 Nevada State Championships where EVERY coach that was recruiting Babbitt (a junior at that time) was in attendance for the final except Ohio St. Babbitt verballed about a week later. That summer, he thought about it and rescinded his verbal and verballed with Nevada.
Fox was the driving force behind the recruiting, even when Trent Johnson was here. He’s the reason we got some of the players we did (Sessions and McGee two of them). You guys are getting a great coach.
lawzoo
April 2nd, 2009
10:10 pm
NEVER mentioned his name and now he is a great hire. The medications are still working. No wonder it took so long the man was working in the CBI Tourney.God Almighty, this has been a fun(ny) ride.
So, does this mean Capel is DEFINITELY not coming or did ga. just not “pick” him.
BULLDOG 30425
April 2nd, 2009
10:10 pm
THANK GOODNESS THE TUBBY CRY IS SILENCED. GEORGIA NEEDED A COACH WHO COULD BRING IN PLAYERS TO PLAY TEAM BALL, NOT THOSE WHO WILL PLAY ONE TO TWO YEARS THEN LEAVE. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TROY AND ZAC RECONSIDER. TUBBY WALKED OUT ON GEORGIA, THEN SUPPORTED JERSIA TO BE HIS FOLLOW HIM AND PEOPLE WANTED HIM BACK. BUT I HAVE TO ADMIT I AM SURPRISED HE IS WHITE………………………………………..AND I AM NOT A RACEIST
john
April 2nd, 2009
10:11 pm
once again you guys were clueless. hey, post some song lyrics. that’s good coverage. What a joke the ajc has become.
J Graves
April 2nd, 2009
10:14 pm
Do some research on this guy and you will see some impressive numbers. Fox has beaten Mark Few and Anthony Grant head to head. He did it with out having blue chip recruits in a place like Reno. I’m willing to see if he can land some of these AAU Celtics and state players and use his style to make some noise in the SEC. Also consider this: where were Donovan and Pearl before they came to the SEC? That’s right, they were innovators at the mid-major level.
Whitney Houston
April 2nd, 2009
10:16 pm
This hire is WAC!
natedawg28
April 2nd, 2009
10:17 pm
You gotta love the surprise…may not be the best hire. This guy is the Anti-Felton (and I am not referring to race). Do some research…Fox has a lot to offer in world of integrity…ex. he actually took NO pay raise in his last contract extension. He was only making 400k with some incentives. He does not have a history of alienating his university and his players like Felton. Anyone familiar with how many of Felton’s players were suspended, transferred, didn’t graduate or quit during his tenure??? There were times when the dawgs were so short-handed in game situations that I thought I saw Felton scouting the student body at half time for former church-league players. Kids that Felton recruited obviously had major problems with him and his coaching on-court and off-court. Fox.. Winner or not at an SEC school? Don’t know, but at least we have someone with a winning record and head coaching experience.
Gnat's Landing
April 2nd, 2009
10:17 pm
My team also beat yours!
IlliniBrave
April 2nd, 2009
10:19 pm
Excuse me – but why the hell is the guy’s color even a part of this conversation? I thought that we’ve gotten beyond this. And Damon Evans is black – are we hinting that his decision-making was influenced by race? I wonder what he would say to that! I mean, this S*** is crazy!
Da Hood
April 2nd, 2009
10:26 pm
IlliniBrave, ever heard of Uncle Tom?
falcon21
April 2nd, 2009
10:32 pm
Thanks Jim for the info.
IlliniBrave
April 2nd, 2009
10:33 pm
Da Hood – would you call Damon Evans an Unvle Tom to his face? I seriously doubt it. Oh, and ever hear of Louis Farrakhan?
natedawg28
April 2nd, 2009
10:36 pm
Hey IlliniBrave…when you are right…you’re right…
DirtyVille
April 2nd, 2009
10:38 pm
First order of business is to get Tahj Tate from wheeler kid can ball and is probably the best state prospect without a scholly good luck fox. Start your tenure off right by convincing thompkins to stay because he will be a vital part to your success next year. Also you might be inheriting a bad team but all in all a young team who at times played to its potential (Florida and Kentucky).
natedawg28
April 2nd, 2009
10:43 pm
Fox better kick the dog, kiss the wife and kids, and get on the first flight from Vegas…Wonder if any of his new recruits will follow…or are even worth it…
How do we only have two-three scholarships left when it appears that kids from UGA are jumping ship?
natedawg28
April 2nd, 2009
10:46 pm
Anyone know how many scholarships we have to give? Hope we don’t stoop to tryouts and walkons.
MizzouDawg
April 2nd, 2009
11:10 pm
Time for a reality check, Dawg fans. I have been rooting for the Dawgs since before Hugh Durham, and I have NEVER been as ashamed as I now after reading these posts. What is it about the Internet that makes loyal UGA fans behave like Tennessee fans? This is our coach, people: get behind him, rally the program around him and show him why UGA is so special, and why our fans are so decent and loyal. This is a hard-working, young, gifted coach, and the WAC has been a competitive basketball environment that nurtures talented young coaches.
We are better than this, people.
Athens Dawg
April 2nd, 2009
11:18 pm
This wasn’t a bad hire. Fox has had some pretty good numbers, and has beaten some pretty good teams, including Grant’s VCU team. He’s done some pretty impressive recruiting to Nevada. We weren’t going to be able to hire a big name coach. We simply don’t have enough to offer right now. We have a complete train wreck of a program, and the perception of very poor support for the coach from fans and the administration. No major coach was going to touch us, and for a mid-major, we got someone who is as good or better as anyone else.
Fox won 4 conference championships in a row, advanced to the second round of the NCAAs twice, and he’s beaten Kansas, Texas, UNLV, Gonzaga, and yes, Anthony Grant’s VCU team.
For everyone who’s talking about yet another mid-major hire… sure, Dennis Felton was a mid-major hire. But don’t forget: Billy Donovan came out of Marshall. Bruce Pearl came out of UW-Milwaukee. Tubby Smith came out of Tulsa. Even legends like Rick Pitino and Mike Kry-alphabet soup-ski came out of Providence and Army, respectively.
We did about as well as we could.
greg
April 2nd, 2009
11:44 pm
can we get a refund from the search firm…just kidding,maybe it will work out,i think he will be alright.only time will tell,i think if it dont work out evans and adams needs to go with him
FLDAWG
April 2nd, 2009
11:57 pm
We got a good coach (read Jim’s link @9:30). He is not the big name that everyone was expecting from DE, but in some ways this could be better. If he is successful and has the support of UGA admin and fans, he might hang around like Tubby should have. I won’t drink the cool-aid and proclaim this is a great hire, I will support him, wait and see what he does. From his bio, he will recruit well, he won’t take no for an answer. It will most likely take more than two years, but we can’t go much further down. I believe he will be around for awhile. He is young with a lot of work to done. He and Richt should make a good combination. Best of luck to Coach Fox and the UGA hoop dawgs.
FLDAWG
April 2nd, 2009
11:59 pm
Didn’t Coach Fox make it to a bowl with the Minnesota Screaming Eagles in his last season??? Any relation to Hayden Fox??? Is Dober’s brother an assistant? Go Dawgs!!!!
Clayton
April 3rd, 2009
12:06 am
Give the guy a chance guys. Great comment Athens Dawg. Every coach starts low and works his way up, and lets face it, the way the basketball program is this is the type of coach UGA needed. Who cares if he is white, black, chinese, whatever. I thought winning wasn’t the important thing. And remember the big name coach isn’t always the best thing. Look what happened to Billie G at Kentucky. He rebuilt Texas A&M and couldnt handle it at Kentucky. The only sure thing would have been John C but we had no chance to get him. Hopefully he can recruit, if he recruits hell probably win. If not you cant beat the big boys with DII players as Felton learned.
swgaboy
April 3rd, 2009
12:10 am
If anyone thought that Anthony Grant was the way to go, there’s no way you can’t like this hire. Resume vs. resume it’s in Fox’s favor.
FLDAWG
April 3rd, 2009
12:22 am
swgaboy, I have not compared resumes but, I tend to agree with you after reading Fox’s bio. I believe he beat vcu under Grant and I also believe he beat Gonzaga.
Fox has a chance to be the face of GA BBall, much like Donavan is the face of Gator BBall. Fox has a lot of work to do and I hope he is up to the challenge. If he builds it up from ground zero, he may not want leave. Good luck to Coach Fox and UGA BBall. Go Dawgs!!!
Marc
April 3rd, 2009
12:27 am
Mark Fox will bring w’s to the program. Great recruiter, enamored himself to the Reno community. You will be proud to have him represent your university and I will be watching him in the postseason next year.
Poopy Pants
April 3rd, 2009
12:38 am
Hate to say it, but we needed a black coach to lure the brothers from the ATL to ATH. A West Coast white guy who wears glasses and looks like he works at a software company isn’t going to do anything to recruit homies from Atlanta. He’ll sure make ‘em laugh though..