Georgia’s hiring of Fox quick, unexpected
Well, that one came out of left field, at least for me it did.
I didn’t start getting strong indications about Nevada’s Mark Fox until late in the afternoon Thursday and I initially discounted them. As the night wore on, it grew more and more plausible and the pieces started coming together. It took a while to get the hire confirmed but, once I looked into just who this guy was it started to make a little more sense. Now whether he’ll make a good fit for Georgia, I’ll let Mark Bradley and our other columnists opine on that. All I can say for now is what everybody else is saying – “didn’t see that one coming.”
It appears Fox is at least the fifth person approached about the job, or at least among five. Georgia is known to have had extensive talks with Missouri coach Mike Anderson before he Anderson decided to remain with the Tigers, who offered him a new seven-year contract at $1.6 million a season. The Bulldogs or their representatives also had preliminary discussions with Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell and Miami coach Frank Haith. None, it appears, were interviewed.
Here’s a few facts on Fox:
- He was 123-43 in five seasons at Nevada and never won fewer than 21 games there. He went 29-5 in 2006-07.
- Nevada competes in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and Fox’s teams won the league four of his five seasons. They finished second to Utah State this past season.
- The Wolf Pack[cq] played in the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons but not the past two. They reached the second round in 2005 and 2007.
- Fox’s teams played Georgia’s twice, winning both times. Nevada beat the Bulldogs 58-47 in Athens on Nov. 26, 2004 and 68-62 on Dec. 21, 2005.
That’s the gist of it. But we definitely want to know what you guys think.
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156 comments Add your comment
Fools Gold
April 3rd, 2009
7:51 am
What a joke of a hire for the inept Damon Evans
Glen
April 3rd, 2009
7:59 am
This guy is not going to keep the Atlanta talent in state, they will still go to GT or out of state. The kids are going to see this guy and say who is this. No name recognition, his most highly thought of player from Nevada was an NBA dud. He has no connections in this state, no recruiting ties to our AAU organizations, they won’t just let him in. I see someone falling flat on his face and being gone in 3 years.
david
April 3rd, 2009
8:04 am
stupid stupid stupid.ga does it again.
dUMb DAwG
April 3rd, 2009
8:25 am
WHaT wAs dAMoN eVAns tHIkInG?
MB
April 3rd, 2009
8:26 am
Hahaha! Steve you’re a joke that’s why the entire SEC had three tourney teams total….yeah you’re dominate. Mike In Valdosta…one word, Valdosta.
Get It Right
April 3rd, 2009
8:28 am
T. Moore will not be pleased. Not “color”-ful enough.
Linda Lovelace Dawg
April 3rd, 2009
8:28 am
Hmmm another Markie Boy in the UGA sports program. I wonder if he will choke on the Big one too?
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 3rd, 2009
8:29 am
Better than Hewitt?
Hell yeah!
Felton was better than Hewitt.
The best possible scenario for UGAg is he uses them as a stepping stone.
ED SINGLETON ALUM 78
April 3rd, 2009
8:38 am
PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIRE ADAMS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY NOT BOBBY KNIGHT OR TUBBY SMITH??????? NO MORE MONEY TO UGA UNTIL ADAMS IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HORRIBLE!!!
gdawginkalamazoo
April 3rd, 2009
8:39 am
I told you guys yesterday that Gomer Pyle will open the official press conference “Suprise, suprise, suprise….”
Can’t comment on the hire because I never followed Neveda or WAC basketball. All I will say is welcome aboard coach, good luck and please make us a winner in basketball. Appears to be a proven winner and successful at mid major about what we were looking for.
Kent
April 3rd, 2009
8:39 am
One thing you can count on with this hire. Tennessee Kentucky Florida, Alabama , South Carolina and Miss State have no need to worry about UGA beating them for the next several years ! Winning in the WAC is the same as GA playing Hawaii in football. No match for SEC play. Way to go GA ! Continue to give the visiting team a home court advantage ! Moore is not going to be happy either because he aint of color, RACISM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gdawginkalamazoo
April 3rd, 2009
8:44 am
Look there are now a ton of coaches out there that are disappointed in this hire. They won’t be able to use UGA to get their contracts doubled and renewed.
flats
April 3rd, 2009
8:46 am
Is he going to coach next year?I thought you had to sit out a year?
Jon
April 3rd, 2009
8:48 am
GG Smith wants to be a part of the coaching staff…..Damon should strongly consider him, the fans would love to have a Smith back on the bench and he would recruit GA well.
Fools Gold
April 3rd, 2009
8:56 am
Boy….. how much did UGA pay the Firm for the this great hire???? LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!
Dean Smith
April 3rd, 2009
9:01 am
I told Damon boy that I wanted to stay in retirement and coach UGA Basketball. Oh well he just dont want to listen …. Mr Adams has gotten what he deserved! How does it really feel to waller below mediocrity?
No More Moore
April 3rd, 2009
9:02 am
Terrence is going to have a field day on this hire since Fox is white!
Poppy
April 3rd, 2009
9:03 am
With support like some of these nuts are giving we couldn’t win in elementary school. Coach Fox deserves our full support until we see what he can do. Let’s give the man a chance. Our support can make or break a coach. Welcome Coach Fox. May you have much success at UGA.
Patrick
April 3rd, 2009
9:09 am
Wait just a minute! Georgia has been without a coach since late January and the best option they can come up with is a coach from the WAC? This makes no sense whatsoever! This is not the “sexy”, “flashy” hire this program needs and the fans deserve. Bob Knight would have been a better hire! Instant credibility to recruit quality talent is what Georgia needed and instead we got an AAU coach!
dap01
April 3rd, 2009
9:24 am
He obviously can coach. Perhaps he can begin the long rebuilding process. Go Dawgs.
Do you ever wonder why TECH fans are always on UGA blogs? Obvious losers. There is nothing wrong with being a Tech fan but don’t you have anything better to do than to comment on a UGA blog?
Oscar
April 3rd, 2009
9:28 am
The knock on this guy from Nevada fans is that he is a horrible in-game strategist and worthless from an x’s and o’s perspective. Is this what Damon Evans had in mind with his first big hire? I think not. Mired in mediocrity.
NewnanDawg
April 3rd, 2009
9:50 am
I think I’ll just act like a rational fan (hard for some to relate), see if I can get a hold of a little tape to observe his game time coaching style, listen to what he has to say at the press conference(s), and see how the players react. Finally, after watching a few of the first games of the season, I’ll start to have an opinion. Right now, I’ll just be a fan and support the program.
I do hope he has the personality to get people fired up and gets the players talking positively about next season. If so, he can generate some interest in filling up the Steg.
Go Dawgs!
Nevada Fan
April 3rd, 2009
9:52 am
Good luck Georgia, you will need it. Ask any Nevada fan and they will tell you that Fox rode the coattails of Trent Johnson, a truly good coach. We are not dissapointed to see him and his temper leave. Start your search now for your next coach…
BPZ
April 3rd, 2009
9:53 am
First, I would like to say that I know very little about Fox. I know he has beaten UGA twice while at Nevada. I just do not understand fans already criticizing a hire that may eventually pan out. UGA is first and foremost a football school. We fill up Sanford Stadium every game and it is from that revenue that we have been able to build one of the greatest athletic departments in the nation. I full confidence in Damon Evans. He did his research. We knew we were not going to be able to lure away a Pitino, Calipari, Capel, or any other top coach of that calliber, already. I use the word already because they all use to be no names when they were hired. We use the facility as an excuse. Stegeman is run down and old. It only seats 9000. I say we just built one of the finest practice facilities in the nation and this will attract recruits. Let’s start filling up Stegeman before we start talking about a new arena. It is simple economics. If the demand is not there, why issue more supply. We do not need to proceed and say oh, this is a bad hire. Truly speaking no one knows not even Evans. Only time will tell. Let’s quit whining about not ever hearing of the guy and give him our support for at least three years. We have got to start winning and to show our commitment to basketball at UGA. Georgia will never be a basketball school first, but we do have the resources to have winning baskeball teams that make the NCAA tournament year in and year out like Ohio St, Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. We will always put football first just as these other schools do. Fox, welcome aboard as head coach at UGA and welcome to the great state of Georgia. Good luck.
Mercer Stud
April 3rd, 2009
9:55 am
Hail to the puppies!!! And Damon Evans, the maker of all that is good (except things related to the athletic dept). I’m just glad ya’ll kept your grimy little paws off our coach. I thought you were gonna have to take her.
Poorjeff
April 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
Enter your comments here
Poorjeff
April 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
Enter your comments here
Poorjeff
April 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
Enter your comments here
» SEC links: Georgia hires Fox, Tennessee keeps Pearl John Clay’s Sidelines
April 3rd, 2009
10:00 am
[...] Chip Towers of the AJC writes on the unexpected hire of Nevada’s Mark Fox as Georgia’s new basketball coach. [...]
Otto
April 3rd, 2009
10:14 am
Kcc14 good info and I agree. BPZ good points. Chip much better article than Bradley. The more I read the more I like the hire.
Knight better really? UGA tried to get some big names which I do not agree with they’ll be out the next time more money is offered or basketball school such as UK comes knocking. Some of my fellow UGA fans were delusional on their expectations of the next coach.
What did UGA pay him?
nola dawg
April 3rd, 2009
10:24 am
This is what this hire reminds me of… the process/hire of Perno for the baseball team. Remember how long it took and how many folks turned down the job? Well, last I checked our baseball team is pretty darn strong.
I was initially shocked (I think I said on this board about 3 yesterday that there was a name we weren’t thinking about yet). But the more I read about this dude, I like. If he gets some good ass’t who can recruit, I think this will be a good hire.
gt
April 3rd, 2009
10:25 am
Good Dawg fans will give this man an honest chance. Remember way back when they got an unheard of assistant named Dooley, and a few years ago got a respected asst named Richt.
Tubby himself had won but was not a household name.
If he works out let’s hire the SEARCH FIRM as the new AD and fire BATMAN AND ROBIN.If he does not work out let,s FIRE BATMAN AND ROBIN for derelection of duty, fraud, failure, or for any reason one wishes to put forth.
We fans could have done as well as this firm- the one that ran Anthony Grant away, as I blogged yesterday.
On the plus side, if you need a job, that Search Firm maycan use you. Competence is clearly mnot a requirement.
FEDUP!Dawg
April 3rd, 2009
10:25 am
WOW! OMG! WTF! OK so Adams has a sound bite saying the qualifications are a guy from a top school whose been successful, to me that meant a major (aka BCS) conference coach. Which disqualified all mid major coaches so Grant, Few, Stevens, Miller, Gregory & the guy we hired!!! How do we fire a guy then hire a dude that has less of a pedigree coming in than the last coach? OK I understand we shot for the fences & lost out but we should have had a better back up plan that this! To me with coaches that might have listened still playing we should have waited at little while longer to at least talk to Drew & Wright. Last night I come home see Baylor playing in the NIT final & think yea he’d be a good hire then only to later see Fred Kalil on 36 saying we’re hiring WHO?!? The search firm Evans hired had burnt bridges with the guy (Grant) that we needed & wanted the job wouldn’t even talk to us then ends up at AL! Sure the search firm did its job but for who? They placed a coach who was an assistant for a guy they helped LSU hire last year. I work with a lady that has a kid that’s in at a prominent HS bball program & on a big time AAU team. Grant was already on him while at VCU, she & I both figured Grant would come to UGA. This morning she basically said with this hire UGA is now off of their list! Well guess where this kid & a lot of other ones in GA will probably go now? AL!!! (The pecking order for GA kids will be KY, UF, UT or AL then probably SC & Vandy over us as well) This is a late April fool’s day joke right? OMG! How can you have the biggest AD budget in the SEC then NOT be able to: get then indoor practice faculty built, get Sanford renovated, get Stegmen renovated or replace, get Foley filed redone, give our top assistants long term deal with buyouts while most of the rest of the conference is . Then on top of all that you make such a blunder on the basketball hire?!? Not sure if its Adams interference that’s causing all this but whatever the problem it is it need to resolved ASAP! Needless to say this will once again effect donations on top on what the economy is already doing to them. So now just like I said it would be, this is a bigger issue! Damon is NOT doing his job & its reflecting badly on the entire BullDawg Nation! If we had at least movement on some of the facility issues then there might be some benefit of the doubt given on this hire. Board of regents: FIRE ADAMS & EVANS NOW!!! Bring back Dooley as the AD & get a president that will let the AD do his job! If they won’t do it & the governor won’t force them to do it then we need to elect someone that will! OMG! I’m so FED up over the continued talk followed by lack of action then bumbling & fumbling of personnel matters!
don
April 3rd, 2009
10:48 am
I don’t think this is a terrible hire but I do think
Damon’s inexperienced showed. I think the search firm turned out to be a terrible idea. Part of their job was to quietly assess a candidate interest to avoid embarrassment from public rejections.
The second issue is why was there such little interest in Grant, when the ended up with someone not as highly regarded.
Two theories, first the search firm convinced Evans he had a real shot at a coach from a major conference, Anderson, and second the search firm had already burned bridges with Grant from a prior job search. Either way I think Damion just blew $75,000.00,and worse put a dent in the moral of the UGA basketball fans, just after finally raising their hopes for the first time in many years.
Avi
April 3rd, 2009
10:54 am
Mar who?????????????????
austindog
April 3rd, 2009
11:00 am
Three time WAC coach of the year. Give him a chance.
FireChipTowers
April 3rd, 2009
11:08 am
Chip Towers needs to be handed his walking papers by the AJC after his shameless attempt to “report” that UGA was seeking to hire Oliver Purnell or Frank Haith. He was so far from the actuality of the situation that he had to sink to “backtracking” by saying that the AD did speak with both yesteday. The is the worst type of reporting, saying stuff without foundation or substance while trying to “be the first in the know” – hopefully, the AJC brass will terminate this type of minor league “reporting”.
Gordon
April 3rd, 2009
11:10 am
Some free advice from a Tech fan: DO NOT sign him to a perpetual rollover contract if he has one great year.
NCMTNDawg
April 3rd, 2009
11:12 am
Listen, I don’t know anything abouth this guy. I wish him all the luck in the world. His resume looks pretty good.
There are two things that make me scratch my head. First, that’s a “big splash”!? All alum and fans should feel betrayed and duped by Adams. Regardless of the outcome (hopefully good), that is NOT what was promised. Next, what recruiting ties are established to the Southeast (especially Georgia/Atlanta)? Think about it…Nevada…Georgia…2,400 miles apart! It takes 35 HOURS approximately to drive campus to campus and for those who are geographically challenged, it borders CALIFORNIA!
Welcome Coach Fox and best of luck. GO DAWGS!!!
SEC links: Georgia hires Fox, Tennessee keeps Pearl | MrSEC.com
April 3rd, 2009
11:20 am
[...] Chip Towers of the AJC writes on the unexpected hire of Nevada’s Mark Fox as Georgia’s new basketball coach. [...]
Brad
April 3rd, 2009
11:25 am
It’s going to be pandemonium at the Steg in 09-10! Bring it on Calipari,Donovan, Pearl, et al. The dawgs rule. Woof! Woof! Woof!
Dorsey Hill
April 3rd, 2009
11:31 am
To those worried about recruiting, no coach at Georgia or Tech has recruited in state very well for whatever reason. Georgia is to BBall what New Jersey is to Football. So lets see how he does, it can’t get worse.
I would like to know the state of Nevada BBall before this guy arrived. Did he build it from scratch or did he just maintain a good program in a questionable league?
Andy in Ohio
April 3rd, 2009
11:33 am
I’m sure Damon Evans and co. saw something in this guy that they like. Hopefully he’s able to get his recruiting skills honed in the very competitive SEC. I do like what has been mentioned about his passion though. I’d like to see the UGA B-ball team start doing what Michigan State does in it’s drills. Forget what they call them, but they work out in football pads in every practice and work very, very hard on rebounds.
Hopefully he puts some passion into this team, he’s going to need a lot of luck. Obviously his record is very good and he’s made it to the NCAA tournament 3 times out of past 5 years, which is far beyond what UGA has done in that time frame.
BravesFan79
April 3rd, 2009
11:34 am
And to think…. UGA needed a “search firm” to find this guy?? That $$ could of been used better give 2 lucky kids academic scholarships!
This guy is probably a better coach that Jeff Capel tho. Yet probably not as good as Lon Kruger. GT will STILL dominate the state of Ga!
Scott
April 3rd, 2009
11:57 am
Tubby wasn’t called because his Minnesota buyout is $10mil
AltamahaDawg
April 3rd, 2009
12:07 pm
One of the things that this guy has in common with evey other coach bantered about in here……..the “experts” in here know about as much about him, as they did about them.
It looks to me that we made the best hire we could of the coaches that would accept the job.
steve
April 3rd, 2009
12:27 pm
Badgerdawg, I understand what you are saying, but how would explain Odom’s demise at South Carolina? Just an inferior atmosphere?
John Emens
April 3rd, 2009
12:39 pm
Mark Fox is an established, successful coach who is also a good recruiter. At least four of his players in the past four years have been drafted by the NBA. One, Ramon Sessions, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, had a triple double as recently as two days ago (and a double-double ) last night. Also drafter were Kirk Snyder, Nick Fazekas (by the Mavs, now playing in France) and JaVale McGee (Wizards). Give this guy a chance. Basketball fans out west are very aware of his. The coaches in the conference will be glad to see him go to get him out of their hair.
UGADawg83
April 3rd, 2009
1:01 pm
He’s hired. He’s here. Lets support him. More importantly lets support the program.
JB
April 3rd, 2009
1:09 pm
you will not get a five star chef to work at waffle house, and we won’t get a top tier name BB coach to Athens. Welcome coach Fox. prove them all wrong.