Mark Fox succeeding in changing basketball culture at Georgia
The lower hand shows where Georgia used to be. The upper hand shows where Mark Fox has brought them. (Jason Getz/AJC)
ATHENS – Not that it was some great revelation but Georgia officials were pretty up front with Mark Fox during the interview process in 2009 about the state of the basketball program. It was a mess. So in that sense, he knew he wasn’t stepping into Eden.
But have you ever booked a room in a low-budget hotel, had low expectations and when you arrived wondered if you had just missed the hurricane? That was Fox last season. He expected bad and witnessed something worse.
“I know last year I said that I wasn’t surprised with where we were because they were so honest with me when I got here,” the Bulldogs coach said Thursday. “But as I reflect, it was probably in worse shape than I wanted to admit. We’ve made progress. But there’s still days where you feel like the train ran you over.”
Possibly. But these days, that train mostly runs through Paul Hewitt’s office at Georgia Tech.
Of the two major college basketball programs in the area, only one obviously is going in the right direction. Both open conference play this weekend. The Bulldogs are being talked about as a dark horse in the SEC in only Fox’s second season. The Jackets, after non-conference losses to Kennesaw State and Siena, project as the gum under the rest of the ACC’s shoes.
Fox isn’t in a position to gloat. He is 2-0 against Tech and says, “That’s important. We didn’t come here to finish second.” But he also knows that the stated goal of having a rich basketball tradition in Athens is far down the road.
Nonetheless, the job he has done in a short time is nothing short of remarkable. He took over a wreck of a program, engineered a few upsets, put a scare into Kentucky in Lexington and finished 14-17 — a losing record, but a clear 180 for the team.
Remember where Fox started. Three players forgot their shoes on the first road trip last season. One asked the coach, “Do you really think we can win?” Others blew off tutoring sessions.
“We’ve had some academic battles, some issues in how to work and how to function as an athlete, how responsible you had to be, how much effort it took,” Fox said. “There wasn’t a winning mentality.
“I don’t want to indict [former coach] Dennis Felton. He had his own issues that he walked into here, so I have to be fair to him. But all that being said, it wasn’t in great shape. But I’m not focused on where the program was or even where it’s going to be two years from now. I’m focused on how we’re going to get there, on the present.”
Here’s the present: The Dogs are 11-2 going into Saturday’s SEC opener against Kentucky. Their only two losses came in a tournament to Notre Dame (double overtime) and Temple when a rusty Trey Thompkins was playing his first two games following an ankle injury. Georgia has won eight straight for the first time since 2002-03. Expectations are high enough that Fox laid into his team for poor play after the last win over Eastern Kentucky. (Quoting: “I wasn’t wowed how we played or how I coached.” If only the football coach on campus was so forthcoming after games.)
Fox said he is “making progress” in changing the basketball culture in Athens. More recruits are looking at Georgia as an option (”We’re in more races traditionally than we’ve been in.”). Fan support has been good. But his objective is to grow the program to the point that “everybody has to check the score of our game before they go to bed.”
He likes his team. He likes the chemistry. He likes the fact nobody forgets their shoes any more.
He also likes the sudden high expectations.
“It’s funny because last year I had to tell them, ‘Don’t believe anything anybody tells you when they say you’re not very good,’” Fox said. “Now I have to tell them, ‘Don’t believe them this year, either.’ You still have to do the things that equate to winning. This is not a perception contest.”
If it was, the game is over. Fox has won.
– By Jeff Schultz
♦
Previous posts
– Aaron gets wish: Steroid users kept out of Hall of Fame
– Richt’s plan for change is good, but why did it take so long?
– Playoff rankings and why Falcons can get to Super Bowl
– Fortunes of Georgia, Richt can turn on recruiting Crowell
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167 comments Add your comment
JTDawg
January 6th, 2011
2:49 pm
I don’t know, D A Double, I was asking when does basketball start after the infamous Colorado game . . .
Dawg Tired
January 6th, 2011
2:49 pm
Great job Coach Fox. Honest, direct, humble and willing to roll your sleeves up. You are honest with the fans about the plan to get the program to the next level while not dwelling on the issues of the past. I am sure that you will receive your just reward as well as will we UGA fans. No arrogance on your part. Simply put- you are working the plan with your sleeves rolled up. Great Job! We appreciate all that you are doing. Now- can you please go TRY to help CMR with proper fan protocol. We appreciate honesty but to have a coach that we have supported 100% talking to us like we are total blind idiots? I just didn’t think CMR really had this pompous arrogant attitude. Sure is what has shown up lately
Alex
January 6th, 2011
2:50 pm
Finally, some Mark Fox love. The man is doing a great job in Athens and we aren’t hearing much about it.
D A Double U G
January 6th, 2011
2:50 pm
CONGRATS to Andrew Luck for deciding to STAY AT STANFORD dspite knowing he would be the #1 pick in the Draft.
He just became my second favorite QB in College Football.
Evansdawg
January 6th, 2011
2:50 pm
Can he coach football too????
gadawgs
January 6th, 2011
2:50 pm
LMAO.. JTDAWG
D A Double U G
January 6th, 2011
2:52 pm
My guess would be since Andrew Luck is staying, that Carolina needs a QB REALLY bad….. so they will pick Josh Nesbitt as the #1 overall pick…….
GTBob
January 6th, 2011
2:52 pm
DawginLex, keep in mind that Tennessee is not going to have their head coach for the first 8 SEC games this season. That should hurt them pretty bad and they have already lost to some bad teams. Florida just hasn’t looked all that great yet this season. They will probably turn it around in SEC play though. Vandy is looking pretty decent though.
Mark Richt
January 6th, 2011
2:54 pm
2010 season?
It is what it is . . .
gadawgs
January 6th, 2011
2:57 pm
Wow, on the Luck news. Very admirable but stupid. Either he really likes college football or he did not want to play for Carolina. I do admire him for his decision but he is one defensive lineman away from pissing away millions…………..
Fair and Balanced
January 6th, 2011
3:08 pm
Jury still out. Ga finished just where it was expected to finish last year. 11 – 2 this season does not say anything yet. The real season begins Saturday!
Herschel Talker
January 6th, 2011
3:08 pm
Schultzie:
Very well written. This guy is nothing but a winner, and we need to lock him up big time. This guy has the potential to build a long-term winner. At least one coach in Athens named Mark is worth something. The other guy is a joke.
FIRE MARK RICHT
HT
UGA Insider
January 6th, 2011
3:09 pm
The BIG news today for me is the word out of Tuscaloosa that Kirby Smart is staying on another year as DC of Bama. This has major significance if you are a UGA fan because someone is telling him if he will sit tight, he will be the front runner for the UGA job in 2012 or 2013. I think that person is Nick Saban who would know better than anyone about the inner workings of an athletic department. I fully expect Kirby Smart to be the head coach of UGA within the next 2-3 years.
Ted Striker
January 6th, 2011
3:12 pm
Let’s give a little credit to Damon Evans for this hire. Just sayin…
collegeballfan
January 6th, 2011
3:17 pm
When Georgia hired Fox they hired a keeper.
If he can truly get the Georgia grads to support the team by attending games he can build something special there. The SEC is a conference not dominated by anyone.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
3:20 pm
I hope it works out for him and he doesn’t get hurt but Andrew Luck is an idiot for staying.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
3:22 pm
UGA will be an 8 seed in the Tourney.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
3:22 pm
GT won’t make the NIT.
Dawg Gummit
January 6th, 2011
3:23 pm
As a UGA fan I have spent the last twenty years checking scores of the BB team with no interest in the office with other UGA FB fans. Hopefully CMF will get UGA BB to the point that interest at least half rivals the FB fans. Also, for what it is worth I did not attend UGA but bleed red and black and went to a smaller college in state. That said there are NO graduates from the school slive that care more about the UGA athletic teams. I hope in FB CMR can turn things around this year and will proudly wear the “G” next year regardless. This is a great state and UGA is the flagship school.
Dawgs73
January 6th, 2011
3:28 pm
(Quoting: “I wasn’t wowed how we played or how I coached.” If only the football coach on campus was so forthcoming after games.) Jeff, you couldn’t have put it any better. It’s refreshing to hear a coach ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS. If Richt had an ounce of Fox’s accountability maybe he would do the right thing and resign…if only.
DawginLex
January 6th, 2011
3:29 pm
Insider,
I have a family member that works at the school and he is hearing rumor of some big announcement.
Everyone is assuming it is about AJ.
Any thoughts?
Bruce Mac
January 6th, 2011
3:33 pm
UGA Insider (not). First, this is a basketball blog. Second, you have about as much inside information as St. Simon. Why in the h e double ll would UGA hire Kirby Smart when they can hire a real head coach? By the way a football is not made out of a PIG, now you know one fact about the game.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
3:35 pm
Yep, Fox does sound like a winner.
Richt really sounded like he took winning for granted in his news conference. So now I guess he’s going to try.
Buckeye
January 6th, 2011
3:36 pm
Sorry to see Howard ( Yes, that’s his name) Thompkins tatted up over the summer. Hope he paid full price.
Always been a fan and watched most of his Wesleyan games in person. He is the only reason I root for anything Georgia.
I hope he spent extra time in the weight room too. He’s always been big but soft. Needs to aquire an NBA meanstreak IMHO.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
3:40 pm
Leslie is great.
GTBob
January 6th, 2011
3:46 pm
Ted M, i’m not entirely sure that GT will win another game this season, let alone make the NIT. We can hopefully beat Chattanooga, and can probably have a good game against Wake. Other then that we are pretty much done.
D A Double U G
January 6th, 2011
3:54 pm
I am hearing rumors of a big announcement as well.
Presumably about AJ.
What people need to know about AJ, he is a different kind of kid. And he is VERY much still a kid. I wouldn’t be surprised either way, if he stays or leaves.
Hoping he comes back!
master blaster
January 6th, 2011
3:56 pm
Umm Jeff:
Quick question, how many teams has UGa beaten this year who are in the RPI top 100? Yes, a grand total of 1 (UAB who is not very good, or well coached). UGa, with the level of talent in this state, should be in the NCAA tourney every year…massive under performance and the fan base is still not there…
Gatormeat
January 6th, 2011
3:58 pm
Don’t fool yourself dogs, someone will take Fox from you within a year or two. You are nothing but a stepping stone school, no one wants to be there. It also explains why you get stuck with a sorry bunch of football coaches and a sorry team. Champions prefer schools like Florida, where character and honor still count, unlike georgia. We have won back to back titles in basketball and won three NC’s in football in the last couple of decades, you have none. The only thing you are winning is the rap sheet contest, you have players getting arrested all over the place and having panty incidents and all kind of goofy stuff. You should be ashamed of yourselves. If it were anyone else we would feel sorry for you, but because it is the dogs, we mock you
robodawg
January 6th, 2011
4:14 pm
Fox has done a heck of a job. I hope expectations aren’t so high that fans lose interest if we don’t make the tourney this year and support withers when Thompkins and Leslie leave. Fox is a great coach and his recruiting success so far has been promising. Recruiting woes have killed any momentum in the past. At some point we’re going to need a good run in the NCAAs to create a real buzz (like Tubby did) and elevate the program. And then we’ll need to keep our coach from leaving to build something lasting. So we’re not there yet, but things do look promising.
Our goals
January 6th, 2011
4:16 pm
During the 2010 SEC Tourney, I stated here that UGA’s goals for this year 2010-2011 are “to win around 22 games pre SEC Tourney, including continued success vs a GT team that is down, and then, go maybe two deep into the SEC Tourney. If we do that, then the goals will have been met. 24 or 25 total wins would be fabulous for the UGA and the kids.
If we accomplish this track, then UGA can expect an invite to March Madness. There, it would be fabulous to win one game, then bow out. To win more than one would be beyond comprehension.
With that record, then continued recruiting successes will allow UGA to within a total of 2 or 3 or 4 more years to be a nationally respected, established program under Coach Mark Fox. UGA will need to pony up so me major, major bucks to keep him, if he achieves all of this.
UGA grads and real UGA hoops fans hope to one day return to the Final Four and that could happen with luck and some breaks with this coach. Maybe it happens in two more years.
Let us get ready for the SEC ……………… cause it could change fast for UGA.
Go Dogs.
wxwax
January 6th, 2011
4:17 pm
Fox and UGA basketball is one of the feel-good stories in sports.
Calm down about UGA hoops
January 6th, 2011
4:23 pm
The newness of Mark Fox just hasnt warn off yet (remember Paul Johnson at Tech?).
UGA has not beaten a top 50 team this season. They aren’t getting any great recruits. The SEC is still Kentucky and then everyone else. UK will roll over them Saturday and that will change our toon.
Leslie and Tompkins are solid, but Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones are lottery picks.
FREE ENES!!!!!!!!!!
Delbert D.
January 6th, 2011
4:48 pm
Are basketball revivals played in tents?
Marlon Barefield
January 6th, 2011
4:48 pm
Wow, nice, positive article about something at UGA, but you had to take another shot at Richt didn’t you? I really do think it’s personal with you and the UGA football coach.
blazerdawg
January 6th, 2011
4:55 pm
Dawggummt – well said.
JS – Not that it has anything to do with UGA Basketball, but I have listened to alot of CMR post game press conferences and a few call-in shows and never found him to be less than forthcoming.
atlvol55
January 6th, 2011
5:03 pm
Not to throw cold water on UGA, but lets wait until they actually beat someone decent. UGA has been sqeaking by some crappy teams. Lets wait and see until they play some big boys.
“Calm down about UGA hoops” I beg to differ the SEC is KY and no one else. Vandy and TN are pretty good too. All of those first round draft picks got you exactly the same place it got Tennessee last year..
Even though the Vols have been up and down this year; we do have wins against Villanova( Madison Sq Garden), Pitt (on the road), and dominated Memphis, I wouldn’t quite count out the Vols just yet? Who is KY best win this year???
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 6th, 2011
5:03 pm
Dogs will go dancing this year.
Paul Hewitt does the “Ikey Shuffle” at every ATM he uses.
re: master blaster
January 6th, 2011
5:05 pm
To Master Blaster – Clearly you didn’t watch any UGA basketball last year. We beat Tech, Tenn, Vandy (who was ranked), SC, Alabama, and Florida at home. We also took a ranked Vandy team into overtime on the road. Maybe our record wasn’t great in the end, but clearly we are capable of beating talented teams. You must be a tech fan who is still bitter about losing to us.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 6th, 2011
5:08 pm
“everybody has to check the score of our game before they go to bed.”
A statement of relevance. Culture changer for sure.
Ted Striker
January 6th, 2011
5:09 pm
@ JSS — I am still laughing at the “whole lot of praying!” comment. Truer words were never spoken.
Hunting Dawg
January 6th, 2011
5:17 pm
We do! I don’t know if hockey is a college sport that is recognized but they play teams from all over. I even think Florida has a team.
SimpleDawg
January 6th, 2011
5:22 pm
@D A Double U G
What an arrogant idiot you are. You don’t have to be a UGA grad to support UGA athletics. You would support Richt all the way out the door and beyond you are such a blind homer. You’re too delusional to even admit that we have serious problems that are NOT going away. It’s fans like you that are the problem; it’s fans like you that prevent change when EVERYONE knows that change is needed. Being a blind homer is not better than other fans just like being an alumnus is not better than other fans. What an arrogant fool.
Mike
January 6th, 2011
5:28 pm
some UGA fans on here don’t know how to comprehend an article. I’m a UGA fan myself.
I have watched many many UGA hoops games…and this year I’ve not missed one yet.
the ajc is not talking down football. the basketball team is something to watch.
JohnsCreekDawg
January 6th, 2011
5:32 pm
SimpleDog, I cannot agree with you more. DA Double whatever it is needs to wake up…and I think Richt should get this year to fix the problems as well…
Coach D
January 6th, 2011
5:32 pm
JB 2:05 pm post- haha!
Fox is a good coach, I hope he stays around for a while!
crapsandwich
January 6th, 2011
5:40 pm
You just have to love coach Fox. If anyone……I mean if ANYONE, can turn around the dawgs he can. He deserves our full support, especially in the Steg, and he will get much better recruits in the years to come.
LakeDawg
January 6th, 2011
5:43 pm
UGA is a basketball school now!
Hugh Durham
January 6th, 2011
5:49 pm
Yea…good luck with that! If UGA ever took basketball seriously, there’s TONS of talent in the Atlanta area to cherry pick.
UGA basketball
January 6th, 2011
6:04 pm
1. Pulling for the Dogs BB team and the Dogs FB team are not mutually exclusive. Having a good basketball program does not detract from the football program While I love UGA football, I also enjoy basketball, tennis and baseball.
2. Sure, Georgia has been unimpressive against lesser competition in many of those 11 wins, but if last year is a guide, Fox will have them showing constant improvement as the year progresses.