For local college hoops teams, it figures to be a chilly winter
Much has changed for these programs, and others, in 12 months. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Mark Fox took the Georgia job on April 2, 2009, which makes him the dean of local men’s college basketball coaches, which tells us much about the fluid state of local college basketball. “We’re still unpacking boxes,” Fox said Wednesday, bemused by his status, at age 42, of Elder Statesman.
Then he said: “This is a tough business right here.”
Fox spoke before the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s annual luncheon at the Marriott Marquis. Around the room, three other coaches, none of whom has yet coached an actual game at their particular school, were doing interviews. All were trying to be optimistic, but occasionally a note of reality intruded.
Said Ron Hunter of Georgia State: “We’re going to be better than expected — I’ll say that.”
And beating expectations, to be frank, wouldn’t take much. The four schools represented at the luncheon were a combined 53-72 last season, and that was with Georgia’s 21-12 mixed in. Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Kennesaw State all fired their coaches. Georgia lost its two best players — Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie — a year early to the NBA draft. (And now the NBA’s not playing. What a waste.)
Even if they’re necessary, transitions are never easy. The three new coaches trying to establish an ethos. For Brian Gregory at Tech, the underpinning will be defense and rebounding. For Lewis Preston at Kennesaw, it will be across-the-board accountability. For Hunter at GSU, it will be a breakneck pace.
Said Hunter: “It’s hard to teach winning. I’m not even trying to teach X’s and O’s; we’re just learning to compete. We compete when we go to the bathroom.”
It’s far too early to know if any of the three new men will succeed. None of these jobs are easy; if they were, they wouldn’t have been vacant in the spring. But word from Tech holds that Gregory — “BG,” as he’s known — has imported a heightened sense of organization and tenacity. Which doesn’t mean he’s going to win right away. The Jackets’ reservoir of talent is at its lowest level this century, and BG’s task is complicated by the necessity, owing to the refurbishing of Alexander Memorial Coliseum, of splitting home games between Philips Arena and Gwinnett.
Georgia graced the NCAA tournament last spring — its season was ended by Washington, against whom Hunter’s Panthers will open Nov. 12 — but is itself retooling. All its big men are gone. The new lineup, bolstered by the arrival of McDonald’s All-American Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, will rise or fall along the perimeter. “We’ll shoot it better,” Fox said, “but we’re so inexperienced. We’ve got two guys [guards Gerald Robinson and Dustin Ware] who’ve started an SEC game.”
Even as Preston noted that Wednesday was “the sixth-month anniversary” of his hiring, he was fretting over his first test as KSU’s coach — Wednesday night’s exhibition against West Georgia — with some justification. Students of history will recall that LaGrange College beat Kennesaw last preseason. Two weeks later, the Owls stunned Georgia Tech. Four months later, both head coaches were fired. As Fox said, it’s a tough business. (FYI, Kennesaw beat West Georgia 70-68.)
If there’s a sliver of sunshine amid what figures to be a gloomy season for the locals, it’s that the three new coaches don’t exactly have tough acts to follow. Tech has had one winning season in its past four; KSU hasn’t had a winning season since 2005-2006, and Georgia State hasn’t had one since 2003-2004. And there’s also this: With the NBA locked out and the NHL gone to Winnipeg, college basketball could be the only game in town this winter.
Someone said to Gregory, “The spotlight’s on you guys.” Smiling, Gregory said, “Can we turn the spotlight down a little?”
The point being: None of the locals looks to be Broadway-ready just yet. Georgia was picked eighth in the 12-team SEC, Tech 10th in the 12-team ACC, Georgia State 11th in the 12-team Colonial, Kennesaw seventh in the 10-team Atlantic Sun.
Let’s make this simple and say: First team to break .500 is the new state champ.
By Mark Bradley
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92 comments Add your comment
Paul in NH
November 3rd, 2011
12:23 am
IL Jacket,
Your basic premise on the EPL is correct. It is the same 4 – 5 teams every year, but the top teams are the ones with the deepest pockets. Heck, Chelsea was a poor club before they were purchased by a Russian billionaire,
Other top teams in the SEC are UF and ALA. The ACC is still the Big 2 and the rest.
DMAN
November 3rd, 2011
7:55 am
Georgia lost Barnes and Price also,gonna be a rough year on the boards!
DC
November 3rd, 2011
8:18 am
And in other news….Mark Bradley will make another topic in the coming hours b/c no one cares about basketball at this time…I repeat, NOT ONE SOUL CARES ABOUT BASKETBALL AT THIS TIME….
Whatever happened to Chip Towers?
November 3rd, 2011
8:56 am
Yes. there is enough talent in Georgia for both UGA and Tech to have outstanding teams but unless we can pump a little loyalty and appreciation into the water supply the players that have had their education and training financed by Georgians will continue to fink out and go play for the enemy. I fail to see why these players are not as faithful to their supporters as their supporters are to them. You cannot buy class and if they don’t have it then so be it. chip why are you so thin skinned?
rcb
November 3rd, 2011
8:57 am
I’m surprised Mr. Bradley got through the door. Let’ see if we can boil this article down to its essence. Seniors and NBA elligible underclassmen typically get starting positions on successful NCAA 1 basketball teams. Let’s send out a separate news flash on this. Seniors graduate and NBA elligible underclassmen will go too if they get selected high enough in the draft. Let’s send out another news flash. So that each year a coach gets back the rising seniors and other underclassmen who were not drafted. Probably only 2 or 3 of the remaining returning players have any significant playing time, and you start all over again.
Having covered what everyone already knows, the real question is how a coach makes his “new” team each year successful. The answer is he must recruit new players who are capable of filling the open slots each year. The coach must then find a system that molds itself to the best characteristics and talents of those players individually and as a group. Mr. Fox has better recruits this year filling those spots than he had last year if we judge by highschool rankings. Mr. Fox should probably be given the benefit of the doubt in terms of his ability to put a good game plan together for whoever shows up at practice.
Which is a long way of saying I am guardedly optimistic about this season and any other season Mr. Fox chooses to grace us with his presence.
DawginLex
November 3rd, 2011
9:00 am
Top half of SEC is UK, Vandy and florida.
A notch down is Bama, still a top 25 team.
MSU will be pretty good and watch out for Arkansas as they now have Mike anderson. Probably a couple of years away from being really good.
Others, not so much
Joe Tess Fish House
November 3rd, 2011
9:09 am
We still have the Hawks! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Looser NBA crybabys. Stay on strike I dont care I never liked baseketball N E way!
KD
November 3rd, 2011
9:12 am
Mark — there is talent on these teams, at least UGA and Tech. GT has four 4star recruits, while UGA has a former Mr. GA basketball and McDonald’s All-American
BigTimeTechFan
November 3rd, 2011
9:15 am
UGA will be good: Fox is a real good coach, will have more talent then his Navada teams and they could play with anyone.
Tech will be better then most people think, got some nicce players in their lineup.
Brandon Reed
Mfon Udofia
Daniel Miller
Jason Morris
Glen Rice
Key will be if one player can step up and be a go to guy at clutch time, they will be gritty and stay in games but will need one play to step up and be a lest an All-ACC 2nd team type player.
joekill
November 3rd, 2011
10:06 am
im excited about georgia basketball i think the guards will be explosive. If we can get some production from the bigs i think we can suprise some of the big boys in the sec GO DAWGS!
Always a Jacket
November 3rd, 2011
10:09 am
Enter your comments here
Always a Jacket
November 3rd, 2011
10:11 am
Tech will be better. BG will will get more out of the limited talent that PH could ever imagine. Dont know if BG is the future Bobby Cremins. Probably not. Anybody but Hewitt.
wreckmaniac
November 3rd, 2011
10:28 am
I trust that Gregory understands that the string is tighter at Tech than at any of the other three schools.
wreckmaniac
November 3rd, 2011
10:31 am
Always a jacket. Good point. I had very low expectations of Cremins but he became a legend in so many ways. I think Gregory gets it and seems to take a low profile and will require respect and discipline.
RAMBLE ON!!!
November 3rd, 2011
10:38 am
I’m looking forward to GT being able to inbound the ball once again, maybe even make a free throw to two.
CSULaker
November 3rd, 2011
11:05 am
You want to know where the best college basketball in metro Atlanta is? Look to the southside and Clayton State. The Laker women are coming off a 35-1 mark with an NCAA Division II National Championship and return four starters from that team. And the Clayton State men have averaged 19 victories a season for the last 10 years, showing strong consistency. They have a stellar recruiting class that includes three Division I transfers and a JUCO All-American. Could be a big year for basketball in Atlanta – Division II style!!
hairy Grandma
November 3rd, 2011
11:34 am
Thank goodness there is no NBA right now, the league isn’t what it use to be. As far as college ball goes, I am all ready! Just takes time to bring these teams back out of their shells, hope it gets exciting again soon, great article Mr. Bradley!
Very Hairy Granny
Banned Poster
November 3rd, 2011
11:41 am
I think Mark Fox and UGA will be just fine. He has more talent now up and down the roster than the heavy handed two-some he was left with his first two years. This team will compete in the SEC and for a spot in the NCAA tournament. The early schedule shakes up nicely for a young team and once SEC play begins, they should be ready.
Casey
November 3rd, 2011
11:59 am
I bet those players that went pro early are wishing they’d waited another year.
Casey
November 3rd, 2011
12:01 pm
I do expect Tech to finish better than 10th in the conference. Those predictions come off of what we saw last year. We have no idea how this team is going to look… let’s just wait and see.
IL Jacket
November 3rd, 2011
12:08 pm
Thanks, Paul and Lex for the SEC info. I would like one of the columnists to cover how CBG’s introduction of his offensive scheme is going. Maybe Ken could do it if Mark isn’t interested. As I recall, there was a lot of talk before the choice was made of how the scheme CBG ran wouldn’t work in the ACC, so I wonder how the adoption is going so far.
Alco75
November 3rd, 2011
12:40 pm
Go Mercer!
Paul Hewitt
November 3rd, 2011
1:20 pm
I’m headed back to the “Big Dance” (well, this year, anyway).
GSouthEagle
November 3rd, 2011
2:00 pm
Nice to see that you don’t include the teams in the lower half of the state that could put a good fight up against and probably beat some of the Atlanta teams, i.e. Georgia Southern University. There is more to the state than just Atlanta, take a look around.
Mike
November 3rd, 2011
2:04 pm
Not having enough of bashing our local football teams, Bradley starts right in with the basketball teams. You heard it here first, guys – no need to buy your basketball tickets, Bradley forecasts doom and gloom. No need to even got o the gym. You know, Bradley, if you followed your friend Terrence Moore out of town, we could all sit back and enjoy things for a change …
ugakev
November 3rd, 2011
2:39 pm
Don’t forget the Dawgs are adding Nick Marshall and Jay Rome to the basketball team who were studs out of high school.
GT Dude
November 3rd, 2011
2:54 pm
I am opptimistic for Tech simply because Hewitt is not on the bench!
GT Dude
November 3rd, 2011
2:56 pm
I am pestimistic for Tech becasue Glen Rice Jr is our best player and unless he has matured over the last year the only thing consistent about his was his inconsistancy…
GT Dude
November 3rd, 2011
2:57 pm
And one last thing
Stay Thirsty my Friends
Memphis Tiger's Fan
November 3rd, 2011
5:18 pm
It’s really sad that a city like Atlanta with such rich talent in basketball is pushed to the back burner. Pockets of the South like North Carolina, Kentucky, Memphis and Lousiville celebrates basketball year round. It’s crazy, especially Atlanta being such a major US city. Most major cities in the US are driven by basketball. I forgot, college football is a rual sport, basketball is more of an urban sport. This was not an Issue when Jordan Played!!!!!!!!
What we expect in year 3
November 3rd, 2011
5:39 pm
UA folks expect to win maybe 16 -18 games and this might be a BIG stretch in 2011-12.
If we can see a quality win over one or two of the better SEC teams or out of conference, it will be a decent year in year 3, given our two so called star left for the NBA but they should be easy to replace in another year. One win in the SEC tourney would be considered gravy …………..this particular year.
With GT being down …………..we also expect continued domination of the Jackets.
Tektite
November 3rd, 2011
6:39 pm
Brian Gregory HAS to be better than Paul Hewitt. Hewitt was an abomination for way too long.
phil
November 3rd, 2011
7:31 pm
No whining from you Tech doofs….you wanted your coach canned, you got it.
Enjoy the new reality.
Rabid Dawg
November 3rd, 2011
7:42 pm
Georgia constantly ends up with primarily 3 star talent. Sure Pope is a 5 star guard but the rest are all 3 star talent. Fox is giving it his best but we need those 4 star players and the occasional 5 star player on a yearly basis. Otherwise….we will remain a mid tier sec team.
Why don’t the talented kids from Atlanta want to come to UGA? Is it the stegmen venue? The practive facility is top notch and Fox is a great coach.
above the rim
November 3rd, 2011
9:50 pm
If Tech finishes in 10th place, I will be extremely disappointed considering how down the ACC is this…BG has more talent on this team than he ever had at Dayton, my concern is his ability as an x’s and o’s tactician, from what I’ve seen of his Dayton teams I was left unimpressed with his offensive sets, hopefully he hired assistants who can help in that area..oh well can’t wait for the season to start!
Paul in NH
November 3rd, 2011
10:13 pm
Georgia Southern could beat the major schools in the metro Atlanta area? Didn’t they go 1-17 in the Southern Conference (5-27 overall) last year?
IL Jacket
November 4th, 2011
12:37 am
Paul, I wish we could adopt two British practices that I think would liven things up- the Prime Minister’s Question Hour and relegation. I think relegation could work with all sports except possibly football. It would be interesting to see how the Kansas City Royals would play if they thought they were to be demoted to AAA. I think it would also have a salutary effect on the owners who may spend a little more to maintain their pro franchise. Otherwise the LA Clippers may be relegated to the D League.
UGASlobberknocker
November 4th, 2011
7:31 am
Ive been reading Mark Bradley since he has been at the paper, 25 or 30 yrs now. He can be hilarious when he wants to be, although for some reason we dont see that side of him much any more. Mark and me disagree virtually everything about baseball. I believe his football columns can be less than expert-like, and his Hawks columns tend to degenerate into whining sessions.
BUT when it comes to college hoops, FM Bradley is the king. I hope the AJC puts heavy emphasis on college BB this yr with NBA out..with Mark at the forefront.
Keep up the good hoops work Mark, we appreciate it. p.s. show a little of that great sense of humor sometime..some of the newbies reading the ajc dont know you can be every bit as funny as Schultzie.
UGASlobberknocker
November 4th, 2011
7:32 am
Speaking of entertaining and funny writers, what happened to Steve Hummer? I thought he was great.
Jimmy Crack
November 4th, 2011
7:56 am
I’ll take local college hoops over whatever the pro game is shoveling, even if they weren’t on their millionaire strike.
Don’t get me started on the Hawks, with their yearly season promise followed by their embarrassing playoff implosions (win by 10 at home, lose by 30 away).
CHUCK UGA
November 4th, 2011
9:36 am
Georgia will win and make the NCAA Tournament. Book that. Fix is a superior coach when challenged, and this season fits that model.
Send'em Uhauls
November 4th, 2011
4:41 pm
We will be wanting to get rid of this Nevada Fox clown after this year in Athens too. Damon Evans did UGA no favors with this hiring.