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
GradyGrad96
April 2nd, 2009
10:10 pm
Huh? Well, a coach is better than no coach. As an alumnus not really sure what to think about this one. How is this guy going to recruit in state? He has no ties to the south. My guess is he doesn’t know anything about the south. Well, at least he will have something in common with Felton – inability to get in-state kids to stay in state.
So far, I’m not impressed. But I will withhold any real opinions for year. I want to see his first recruiting class.
At least the Clemson people can stop clamoring about taking their worldbeater of a coach.
Georgia Hires Nevada's Mark Fox As Next Men's Head Basketball Coach | GeorgiaBulldog.com - Georgia Bulldogs News, Discussion, Schedules & More
April 2nd, 2009
10:11 pm
[...] What do you think of Dogs getting Fox? – AJC Category : Basketball [...]
ArkyTech
April 2nd, 2009
10:14 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
ff
April 2nd, 2009
10:14 pm
i’m happy to give the benefit of the doubt with Coach Fox. Welcome to Georgia, hope you like sweet tea
BadgerDawg
April 2nd, 2009
10:21 pm
Best of luck, coach Fox. I hope his recruiting skill serves him well at keeping players in state. Feel free to question the hire, but this is exactly what we were in line for: a mid-major coach performing at a high level. Hopefully, he works out much better than that prototype we just shipped out.
bigboi
April 2nd, 2009
10:26 pm
once again Georgia couldn’t get it done. We had our chances to get Mike Anderson of Missouri who would of been a much better fit, but Damon Evans couldn’t pull the strings. Typical Georgia…
SoCal Dawg
April 2nd, 2009
10:29 pm
I think it may take 2 or 3 years but I believe there’s hope.
SoCal Dawg
April 2nd, 2009
10:31 pm
I think we may win the SEC next year if someone gives him this website and he follows our wonderful advice.
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 2nd, 2009
10:34 pm
HUH?
WHO?
FROM WHERE?
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 2nd, 2009
10:34 pm
BWHAHAHHAAHAHAA!!!!!
Coyote
April 2nd, 2009
10:36 pm
Not the big name some hoped for but I’d much rather take a shot with a mid-major guy than someone like Purnell or Haith. It’s impossible to know if he’ll be the next Billy Donovan or the next Dennis Felton but at least there’s some potential upside. Hard to have a better mid-major resume than the one he’s got so I’m on board.
Buzz29
April 2nd, 2009
10:38 pm
Why you laughing Ramble? We still have Phew. I hate all things UGA but congrats on getting a coach not named Paul Hewitt
Coyote
April 2nd, 2009
10:38 pm
By the way, for any Tech fans laughing at this, let me remind you that your coach has been a massive underachiever for years. Maybe the elite recruits will save him because the man simply cannot coach and deep down you know it’s true.
Bill Coin
April 2nd, 2009
10:44 pm
OMG! IMHO:(
lawzoo
April 2nd, 2009
10:50 pm
How much will ga. be paying this big name coach that they were in the hunt for? If it’s over a million it’s crazy. Will the ajc ever admit that their “reporting” on this story was shoddy….I’m being kind. To actually promote coaches who declined(Anderson took 1.6 and declined 2.1) the job(the hated Purcell, who the ajc wrongly said was being interviewed)was not even considered i.e., Capel, Purcell,and a cast of thousands made ga. look extremely like the crummy job it is with laughable “facilities.”
Randy
April 2nd, 2009
11:02 pm
Just priceless. The Dawg bloggers talked about Jay Wright or bringing back Tubby Smith. Maybe Butler’s coach? UGA pursued Anderson, Capel, OP, who knows who else. What, were they cold-calling?
Not even an up and coming mid-major coach wants to coach in the GA b-ball cess pool. This is a career ending job for up and comers (Dennis Felton), and anyone established can fall out of an airplane and find a better b-ball school.
And the result? Fox from Nevada? Wow, good thing Evans snatched him up before someone else got him! Whew, that was probably close!
HaHaHaHa! If this doesn’t provide some humility to anyone who thinks UGA b-ball deserves any respect, I don’t know what will.
gdawgs77
April 2nd, 2009
11:04 pm
CHIP, I JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD COULD NOT OF HIRED EITHER SEAN MILLER, BRAD STEVENS, BRAIN GREGORY OR TUBBY SMITH. ANY OF THOSE WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD!! ESPECIALLY SEAN MILLER!!!
Fox is a winner
April 2nd, 2009
11:04 pm
Welcome coach Fox! For those Dawg fans who are not excited about the hire – Fox’s winning percentage virtually the same as our beloved CMR. If Fox can match CMR’s success on the basketball court, I believe we have a good coach.
UGA
April 2nd, 2009
11:06 pm
Great Hire!!!!!
This guy can coach!
Anderson or Grant would have been good also, but this is an awesome hire!
UGA
April 2nd, 2009
11:07 pm
His name may not excite everyone, but who cares, we will win now.
Stegro
April 2nd, 2009
11:09 pm
What an utter albatrous. No wonder Georgia has always and will always suck in Basketball. No one even wanted the job, so they picked up a 2nd tier guy that even a good mid-major would not have chosen. What does that make us? Below a mid-major??
Kcc14
April 2nd, 2009
11:11 pm
His wife Cindy is from Augusta and he wants to be a Dawg!!I will take a 75% winning percentage. Unlike DFelton, he will take his coat off and hurl it into to the stands. Goooo Dawgs
BLACK AND RED DAWG
April 2nd, 2009
11:18 pm
I like the pick. Ithink that Coach Fox shoul;d hire a strong southern recruiter to go on his staff. and who knows maybe UGA basketball can be one of the top programs in the SEC maybe the NCAA. Lets give him three years to see what can happen. He’s a proven winner! GOOOOO DAWGS!!!
Mike In Valdosta
April 2nd, 2009
11:24 pm
ArkyTech and Ramble on,
Two words: Paul Hewitt
SoCal Dawg
April 2nd, 2009
11:27 pm
Kcc14 Do you know for sure his wife is from Augusta.
Pago Flyer
April 2nd, 2009
11:31 pm
Actually, we thought the AD would hire a “brother”!?
Gen Neyland
April 2nd, 2009
11:32 pm
The Fox era has begun…Hope we can welcome him to Knoxville in fine fashion.
rickyt
April 2nd, 2009
11:39 pm
I lived in Reno for 3 years and watched the wolfpack a couple of times a year. i think he will surprise people because he is a good coach and gets the most out of his players. the only trouble i see is recruiting but getting kids to come to athens will be a lot easier than getting kids to go to reno, trust me. hopefully he can get some good kids from georgia to stay and play. i think we could be competitve in a couple of years. he gets fired up on the sidelines during games which i think motivates his players. he was an assistant for the guy coaching lsu now.
turkey
April 3rd, 2009
12:06 am
See for all you doubting Thomas the search team worked. We got crazy like a Fox.
Steve
April 3rd, 2009
12:12 am
Nevada has been down the past 2 years – RPI 81 this season. Fox was stacked for next year – there top 3 players were Sophmore, Freshman, Sophmore, and the next 2 were Juniors. He doesn’t seem to play alot of bench – 7 main guys and the rest are just fillers. Not a great recruiter like he is potrayed according to their last 3 classes, but serviceable (adequate). The SEC East is tougher than ACC people like to admit. Remember Odom from Wake Forest? Great at Wake, mediocre at South Carolina. Why? Kentucky, Florida, Tenn., Vandy and now South Carolina are all perennial postseason teams, and we have to play each twice a year. Felton may have been the best game coach in the SEC East – but but losing Mercer, Takais Brown, Humphries, Singleton, and Jeremy Jacobs (who is a stud) within a year was just too devastating for the program to endure. Best of luck Coach Felton (maybe the Nevada job?) and best of luck Coach new Coach Fox! Welcome to the Bulldog Nation, you and your family! And guys, we want a winner, but lets give him 3 years at least before passing judgment. The way this team is stacked with talent and signees, we will be awesome in 2 years if everybody stays (Thompkins, Price, Barnes, Ware, Daniel Miller, Demario Mayfield, Travis Leslie, Enyaroh, and Zloravic). Stay on board team – you got a great coach.
bwell
April 3rd, 2009
12:12 am
WHAT THE @()*$$$!@, WHO IS THIS GUY! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! The WAC player of the year, just got picked up this week on robbery charges. 4 teams in 4 years in the NBA. Some recruiter! I hope it works out, I will support him. I’ll give him 4 years to turn it around.
GT Fan
April 3rd, 2009
12:18 am
Coyote, Hell man I’ll trade Paul Hewitt for Fox any day of the week. Lets deal! I’ll even go you one better, I’ll trade Paul Hewitt for any damn one that has the title Coach. I love GT and Hate Hewitt. I hope Fox does a great job at UGA.
Mike48
April 3rd, 2009
12:21 am
Dammit – I had my chair ready to throw. Maybe Fox will try and relate
to UGA fans unlike Felton who wouldn’t.
Let’s give this guy a chance and see what happens. After 38 years of
season ticket mediocrity with an occasional good team, there’s no way
to go but up. My guess is a year from now, the Humble Bumbles will be
up in arms when Hewitt flames out again with all of his new talent.
By the way, Coach, pick up a few new players on your way into town.
Without Swanzey next year we’re in big trouble! Keep Thompkins, Ware,
and McPhee and let the rest earn a spot. Rumor has it that Swanzey has
signed with a Division III program somewhere.
One more thing, please let the air out of the stupid “balloon” Dawg
that bounces around the floor on his/her/its head while we are trying
to enjoy the ass-ets of the Dawgie Dance girls. That thing looks a bit
like Barney Frank anyway, and we see way too much of that slobbering
creep during the newscasts.
Thank you in advance for your consideration – see you in December.
dawgbone
April 3rd, 2009
12:44 am
first order for coach fox is to beat yech, like coach richt does 9 outa 10 for sure, maybe we can get favors to change his mind, is it to late ?
BadgerDawg
April 3rd, 2009
12:57 am
Steve, the idea that Odom succeeded at Wake but couldn’t handle the “pressure” of the SEC is laughable. You’re right, he’s worried about having to play Vandy when 2 games each against Duke and UNC just got wiped off the schedule. I don’t like the ACC either but these comments are as dumb as the “we’re getting Pitino” ones are.
innocent bystander
April 3rd, 2009
1:10 am
I remember Coach Harbin “Red” Lawson whose recruiting was hampered because Woodruff Hall was said to be the only bb arena in America where weather was a factor. I was present in 1963 at the Coliseum Inaugural when Coach Lawson’s team upset Georgia Tech.We’ve never been a real basketball school which is sad because Georgia is a real basketball state.I’m not a prophet because I liked the Felton hire. I was impressed (as I guess Coach Dooley was) that Coach Felton had thumped Kentucky a couple of times–something we were never able to do when Tubby coached here.Relationships are everything and Mark Fox’s lack of connectedness with the South may hurt us. But he can coach. I feel much better about this than our options at Miami or Clemson.I think it’s a good hire. Let’s support our AD and our new Coach and give him time.Welcome to the Bulldawg Nation Coach Fox. May your stay be a long and happy one.
Poopy Pants
April 3rd, 2009
1:26 am
On the bright side, we can’t suck any worse than we did this year…. can we?
dawfbone
April 3rd, 2009
1:55 am
i look forward to seeing what he can do, maybe he can steal derrick favors from techs class, that would be too cool, anyway heres to beating tech at everything, crush the bugs
BarkingBulldawg
April 3rd, 2009
1:55 am
WOW is all I can say….
TechTony
April 3rd, 2009
4:47 am
Wasn’t Fox in Reno in 2004 as well when he coached Kirk Snyder and lost to Tech in the Sweet 16?
This will be either another yikes moment in the annals (or anals) of UGA basketball or a fine move, who knows? But it does seem to me, as I’ve said all along, that Evans’s future is irretrievably linked to the success of Fox.
Bamafan
April 3rd, 2009
5:39 am
The new coach at Georgia should hire Phillip Pearson as his chief recruiter and Phillip would do a great job recruiting talent to Athens. Phillip Pearson coached at Alabama under Mike G and replaced
him after he was fired. Good luck to Coach Fox he going to need it working in the SEC east against
Pearl,Calipari and Billy D.
Lane
April 3rd, 2009
5:54 am
The guy has a 75% winning %, not to shabby!!!!
I, however would have preferred Sam Mitchell
Oh, well
UGASlobberknocker
April 3rd, 2009
6:51 am
i havent been this excited about the Dawgs basketball program since…last week.
At least we will continue not having any to be distracted during spring football practice with those annoying NCAA tourney games.
Mr. Skynyrd
April 3rd, 2009
6:54 am
Better than Paul Hewitt.
Wanna trade?
Best of luck (unless you’re playing Tech).
Douglas
April 3rd, 2009
7:16 am
I hope he succeeds. But I don’t think the ticket sales office will get any major phone calls today for seasons tickets. I am disappointed.
Bank Walker, Texas Ranger
April 3rd, 2009
7:17 am
This is better than those other possibilities from Clemson & Miami. Terrence is going to be pissed.
Brownie
April 3rd, 2009
7:27 am
I live here and my job headquarters are in Reno. I have followed Fox’s career since he took over for Trent. I believe the people of Ga. and its fans will get to enjoy his coaching style and his coaching abilities. As far as recruiting he has been up against some of the best in the west and has done great. Lets give him a chance he is better then the last three coaches.,
Dawgdaze
April 3rd, 2009
7:29 am
This guy is probably a good coach. What? You afraid he’ll mess up the storied tradition of Dawg hoops? Dawg fans this is what you get when you don’t support a program. Divert some of the cash from the over hyped football program and build a stadium. Playing in a half empty barn everynight is a tough sell for any coach.
J. N. CORNER
April 3rd, 2009
7:34 am
ANOTHER COACH WHO HAS ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT THE TALENT IN GA! HE IS A GREAT COACH….BUT YOU CAN’T WIN THE KENTUCKY DERBY WITH A MULE….WE WILL CONTINUE TO SEE GA. BOYS PLAYING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY IF HE DOESN’T HIRE SOMEONE IN THIS STATE THAT KNOWS IT!
Dawgdaze
April 3rd, 2009
7:46 am
JN Corner, coaches know that there is a mother lode of bball talent in the state. They also know that the talent ain’t coming to Athens. That’s why you have to settle for a lesser known coach. Why?? The environment number one and number two the facilities and fan support are abysmal.
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
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Poorjeff
April 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
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Poorjeff
April 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
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» 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.
theSECisfootball
April 3rd, 2009
1:20 pm
What a freakin’ joke. Nice effort there AD. Couldn’t get anyone with ties to the south or top level coach to look at the pathetic UGA basketball program. It is what it is. What times kick off for the UGA-OSU game. Who is this clown? I certainly wouldn’t want my contribution dollars going to the fat pay check he will be getting. See ya later after three years Mr. Fox.
David
April 3rd, 2009
1:33 pm
Michael Adams is the reason why no big coach would come to UGA. I wouldn’t either if I were.
David
April 3rd, 2009
1:35 pm
And FED’d up, Dooley aint coming back and he aint the answer. He hired Jirsa.
Pete
April 3rd, 2009
1:42 pm
No too happy about this hire but I trust Evans and his decision. We’ll see what happens. We can’t go backwards that’s for sure.
BadgerDawg
April 3rd, 2009
1:43 pm
Yes. However, “no explanation” was a lot better than yours. What you said would be equivalent to someone leaving Clemson for UGA in football so they didn’t have to play Tech every year.
Also, Tech guy, if you “own” the state in bball that just shows how pathetic things are right now. You are the biggest midget.
Dawg Tired
April 3rd, 2009
2:14 pm
Randy – Folks in Arizona 9I went to high school there tell me that Fox was a potentially popular choice for the University of Arizona job. Today’s Arizona Republic reports the Georgia hire as taking away one of UA’s potential hires for their BB vacancy. I think folks around here are so provincial that they think someone without SEC contacts is a wacko choice. Not necessarily true. Mike Fox can coach. Can he recruit in this area? Don’t know the answer to that – and neither do you.
Only time will tell whether this was a good hire, but I said early on on these blogs that UGA would not be able to get Anderson or Capel. While I have been critical of the search process several times on these blogs, I must admit that this hire caught me off guard and is actually a better hire than I expected – primarily because I never thought that DE would be creative enough to go west of the Mississippi and actually find a relatively young coach who is an excellent floor coach, has been a very good recruiter, is smarter than most, and won’t be chasing the cheerleaders around campus.
Now will we be willing to give him the 4-5 years it will take to clean up the mess we currently have? That’s the real question. Fortunately the idiocy often reflected on these blogs is not reflective of the thinking of those actually in charge. Of course, it also is comforting that those spewing the idiocy are normally not in charge of anything.
JD
April 3rd, 2009
2:17 pm
Ask yourselves this question: What big name coach from a major conference was going to come to Georgia? I don’t think that anyone can honestly answer that question. Sure Anthony Grant was there for the taking, but I said this before that not entertaining the idea of at least talking to him BEFORE he was approached by Alabama was a BAD idea (one of the worst ideas in the long, sad history of bad ideas) that would bite Georgia in the butt. Lo and behold I was right.
You’re all up in arms right now because you wanted to make a big splash with this coaching hire and, from what you’ve perceived (because the guy wasn’t on YOUR radar and he’s not SOUTHERN or anything) this is going to be nothing more than another disaster like Felton. Do you honestly KNOW that this is going to be a bad hire? I mean, eight or so years ago Georgia took a chance on an offensive coordinator from Florida State who had NO head coaching experience and look how that’s turned out.
I know a coaching record in a lower-tiered conference like the WAC isn’t blowing anyone’s skirt up, and contrary to what you believe Coach Fox is actually a good coach. In researching Coach Fox’s achievements at Nevada, I went back and looked at Trent Johnson’s record (since everyone’s not sure about how to take this hire and he was Fox’s predecessor at Nevada). In the first four years as coach of Nevada, Johnson compiled a record of 54-65 before going 25-9 in his final year at Nevada before going to coach at Stanford. Afterwards, Coach Fox won 21 or more games in the five years as the head coach of the Wolfpack succeeding Trent Johnson. Now, I’m no genius but numbers don’t lie. If Fox is such a terrible coach (even if he did have Johnson’s players which, by the way, FOX helped recruit) then why is it that he has a better five-year record (the same time span that Trent Johnson had as coach at Nevada)?
The glaring fact is this: people with an interest in Georgia basketball (the die-hard fan that has an emotional attachment to the university and it’s athletics) are upset because they see Kentucky get Calipari and Alabama get the guy that they want. I sympathize with you, but there’s a guy in Durham that was a little known coach from Army who didn’t have any ties to the SOUTH whose name you couldn’t spell let alone pronounce and he’s turned out to be pretty good. Don’t judge this hire because it’s a guy who doesn’t have ties to the region or no one knows who he is. You should be judging him by his performance as a coach and how he gets his players to buy into his style of play as well as how consistently he wins. Again, I know you can’t judge that by looking at his record in the WAC (four of the past five regular season WAC champions, made the tournament in 3 of those 5 years) as it’s not a power basketball conference, but the guy must be doing something right. Those are the kinds of results a ‘rebuilding’ program like Georgia (Harrick’s regime has done more damage than you will possibly admit) needs.
ReunionDawg
April 3rd, 2009
2:21 pm
Fox is a fine hire. He will take the program in a new direction. He has won more conference titles and been to the Big Dance more than Felton had prior to coming to UGA. He is definitely a step up. If he can get into the Atlanta recruiting base we should be fine. it is going to be a tough 2 yrs.but he knows that. I just hope we as fans can be patient.
Good Luck Coach Fox!!!
freshd
April 3rd, 2009
2:22 pm
Since Fox coached at Nevada, is he gonna run the “pistol” offence at UGA or better yet, since the football team is losing their 2 big guns, will he teach Richt the “Pistol. Lord knows they’re not gonna have many bullets next year.
Gary
April 3rd, 2009
2:23 pm
Yeah and people criticized Adams and Dooley for hiring Mark Richt too. Give this guy a chance. He has a proven track record and not a one and done like Dennis Felton was.
freshd
April 3rd, 2009
2:37 pm
Look on the bright side, I see his wife Cindy was an associate AD at Nevada. You might be getting 2 for 1. You better watch your back Damon. Boss Hogg might throw you under the bus.
KYBulldog
April 3rd, 2009
2:45 pm
Fox is going to find out that he is nothing but a hoe working at the Gem Saloon.
JD
April 3rd, 2009
2:51 pm
Just doing the reading on some of the coaches that Georgia could have possibly pursued: Jeff Capel is looking at signing a 7-year extension w/ Oklahoma (despite rumors that Blake Griffin may turn pro this year), again, Kentucky got Calipari, and Memphis is looking at Scott Drew. All of the other coaches that would have been interesting fits for the program, Sean Miller for one, are staying w/ their current universities.
That’s an indicator of where Georgia’s basketball program is right now. None of the ‘higher profile’ coaches that people may have wanted for this program ARE NOT coming here to a rebuilding effort. I like the idea that Coach Fox is willing to accept the challenge of turning Georgia into a national power.
Oh, and for those of you so concerned w/ regional boundaries think about this; Trent Johnson, in his first year as head coach at LSU, went 27-8 this season and won the SEC West. He’s from CALIFORNIA and hadn’t coached in the SOUTH before becoming LSU’s coach.
big dawg
April 3rd, 2009
2:58 pm
how often are “the experts” right on anything in sports,,,rarely!!!!! and especially the folks in the media!! ever thought that the guy doing the hiring knows something that the experts/media doesn’t know about???
obviously WAY to early to tell if this is a good hire, but maybe, just maybe, this guy knows how to coach basketball..there’s way more to it than running and jumping.. let’s see what he can do first.
Coach Fox
April 3rd, 2009
3:03 pm
I am happy to be the UGA basketball coach!
From my perspective this is a win-win situation. Georgia is a hotbed of recruiting bball talent, I’m getting paid more, and there is no where for “y’all” to go but up. So quit your bitching and I’ll see what I can do to turn this sh*t mixer around.
Coach Fox
YoungDawg
April 3rd, 2009
3:50 pm
OK still not happy how this went down but I’ll support Coach Fox & the team. If he can’t coach it’s on Damon & not Fox! Evans now needs some good PR so maybe we’ll see movement on facilities soon. If Coach Fox had been at a school in the east then maybe we’d understand this move better. I wonder how AZ fans would have felt if he got that job.
puppydawg
April 3rd, 2009
4:04 pm
Shame on all of you naysayers, especially those of you that call yourselves members of the Bulldawg Nation. I, for one, am willing to give Coach Fox the benefit of the doubt until he gives us a reason to do otherwise. It seems to me that all of you “experts’ that can predict the future should be buying lottery tickets. If this hire has ruined your life, you are welcome to jump off the bandwagon at anytime.
Coach Fox
April 3rd, 2009
4:33 pm
Right on, puppydawg.
Now give me the names of all the local coaches and their best players, I’ve got recruiting to do.
GO DAWGS!
Steve
April 3rd, 2009
4:37 pm
Badgerdawg – I get your point, but after North Carolina and Duke, who else was there every year in the ACC? Maryland? Clemson, Fla State, Ga Tech? But in the SEC east you had Donavan, Tubby, Pearl, and Stallings – just saying the SEC East is (and was) better than most ACC folks give them credit for. 3 National Champions in 9 years from the SEC East – did the entire ACC have that many in that time frame?
On to Coach Fox, after a day to let it digest, think this could be an awesome hire. Wish he had one more season under his belt – would have liked to have seen if his Nevada teams were on the way down, and he was winning with Richardsons guys, or if he was just experiencing a couple of down years on the way to building a solid program.
The SEC East will be a beast next year – Florida, Kentucky, Vandy and Tenn. return everybody! Don’t judge the guy on next year, but on year after next when some of these guys in the East turn pro.
AltamahaDawg
April 3rd, 2009
5:30 pm
Personally, I think it was a good hire. As a fan and Alum, I dont feel “promised” anything from anyone in the admin. Other than to make a hire that doesnt bring shame to UGA. Short of that, I will leave it to the professional to figure out who knows how to coach. And I assume they would hire the best posible candidate. I think they did. I really think that even mentioning some big name coaches was simply an attempt for the Admin to say, we are serious, to try to force feed some credibility to the UGA job. You “claim” it should be attractive to (blank) so that it actually will be to (lesser blanks)Who did you fellow really think we were going to hire here? huh? What the hell are you mad about?
It was said in another blog. UGA does NOT have its Billy Donavan out there right now. UGA wasn’t going to get its Billy Donavan right now. UGA needed to find its Lon Kruger.
BTW check out Billy Donavan’s resume’ before UF hired him.
George Holman
April 3rd, 2009
6:12 pm
I am from Reno, and I can tell you all that Georgia is getting a great coach and someone who will represent the university with class. We are all sorry to lose him at UR.
Steve
April 3rd, 2009
7:11 pm
Ooops! In the above post, the ACC did in fact have 3 Nat’l champions in that 9 year time span, but the SEC East had 4 in 11 years.
Dawgdad
April 3rd, 2009
7:37 pm
Lets all welcome Coach Fox, maybe he will bring Luther and Dabber with him from Minnesota State.
Dawg Tired
April 3rd, 2009
9:21 pm
Luther is a whole lot funnier than anyone we’ve got. Some humor would be good.
Steve
April 3rd, 2009
10:29 pm
Liking this hire more all the time – and the cupboard is not bare!!! If no more guys leave, and we keep Miller and Mayfield that is.
JT from Reno
April 3rd, 2009
10:45 pm
Thanks for taking this guy! I live in Reno and though he did have a couple good recruits (Javale McGee, Luke Babbit, Armon Johnson) the first 3 years of his Nevada career was Trent Johnson’s (LSU) draft class! Fox’s last two seasons, we PAID to get into the CBI and LOST both times in the FIRST round! Hahahahahahaha! SUCKERS!
puppydawg
April 3rd, 2009
11:31 pm
JT, sounds like your whine was made with sour grapes.
hoopsfan
April 3rd, 2009
11:53 pm
Someone mentioned that Coach Fox’s wife was from Augusta…not so. Worked with both of them at the University of Washington. Cindy hails from the state of Washington.
Nev. BBfan
April 4th, 2009
12:35 am
Wow, I thought the bandwagon fans here in Reno were bad. We can’t hold a candle to you Dawgs. First things first. He can recruit. #23 recruiting class in the country for last years incoming freshmen. One of those a McDonald’s all American and freshman of the year in the WAC. He has had the last two WAC freshmen of the year, both his recruits. He draws from all over the country. Texas, Carolina, Washington, he will draw good talent. One remark I saw was that his player was arrested the other day. That was Trent Johnson’s player. Fox was the assistant for the sweet sixteen team. He took over when Johnson went to Stanford after one winning season. You will be entertained, he puts on quite the show when things aren’t going good. The crowds cheer when he takes his coat off and tosses it into the crowd. You have a great coach and a great recruiter. Good luck to you and your program. You have also just created a huge rivalry with LSU. Two former Nevada winning coaches. It will be fun to watch.
JT from Reno
April 4th, 2009
12:37 am
You shall see, puppy. No really though, he will be missed, his replacement isn’t half the coach he was. He just got more credit than he deserved seeing that his first 3 years was Trent Johnson’s recruiting class. Good luck ya’ll!
ReturnofChuckyKnapp
April 4th, 2009
1:05 am
Maybe that executive search firm could give UGA a two-for-one deal and find a replacement for Adams. Can’t wait to read the new book “Between the Hedges”. Adams has run off decent folks and made a UGA degree a joke (insert lame Techie joke here). Knapp spent his tenure cleaning up the earlier mess and now the Adams crowd sullies the arches more than anything Fred/Vince and Jan could manage–at least that was limited to athletics. I am not giving a cent to UGA until the Bible thumping, hairshirt wearing Tartuffe Adams is gone.
ReturnofChuckyKnapp
April 4th, 2009
1:08 am
Doh! Make that the new book “Behind the Hedges”! Darn UGA journalism degree screws up my writing.
grich
April 4th, 2009
9:32 am
What is there NOT to be excited about. He is a winner…regardless of at what level. Whether or not he can recruit in state, I will give you two words: Mark Richt. When one brings a combination of passion for the game and the institution, compassion for the difficulty of the everchanging life of today’s student-athlete with solid, tactical X’s & O’s…that coach has the formula for a solid program.
Pizel
April 4th, 2009
9:54 am
This guy can coach that is the bottom line! My only concern is can he recruit Atlanta? We all know that Atlanta is a hotbed of basketball talent. If he can pull some of those kids, winner winner chicken dinner!
lawzoo
April 4th, 2009
11:59 am
Does this definiitly mean that Capel is NOT coming?
BLACK AND RED DAWG
April 4th, 2009
6:50 pm
I personally don’t care if he recruits in state. I want him to recruit good players and coach them up, unlike that coach of that yellow jacket school. The key is getting the players that you need and coaching them up to there potential. That’s how you win Titles!! SEC OR NCAA IT DOESN’T MATTER BE RELIVANT COME MARCH!! ” IF HE BUILDS IT THEY WILL COME”.
shane#1
April 4th, 2009
8:32 pm
What about Roy Williams, Coach K, and Rick Petino? Did they even ask those guys? I wanted Bobby Knight, but Coach Fox, welcome aboard! I will reserve judgement untill I see how the Dogs play next year because I know nothing about Coach Fox.
BuLLdawg
April 5th, 2009
6:58 am
Tech has NEVER been as good as UGA in Baseball.
David Perno, arguably, is the Best Baseball Coach in The SEC. At 25-4, he now has 276 Wins 188 Losses and a Tie, putting him Number 25 All-Time on the SEC Baseball Coach Wins’ List after now 7 and a 1/2 years. This gives him a Winning Percentage of .5946. Considering the strength of schedule he plays, this also is very good.
Roy Umstattd, UGA Coach 1976-1980, is Number 40 with 130 Wins.
W.P. White, UGA Coach 1921-1933, is Number 30 with 134 Wins.
David Perno is Number 25 with 276 Wins.
Big Jim Whately, UGA Coach 1950, 1952-1975, is Number 20 with 334 Wins.
Steve Webber, UGA 1981-1996, is Number 11 with 500 Wins.
Of course, Ron Polk, UGA Coach 2000-2001, is Number 1 with 1,218 Wins (including at Mississippi State before being elected into The Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.)
Easton bats seem to be helping this season.
It made no sense to make us just only use Nike bats because they are our Sponsor.
The 5th largest Crowd in Foley Field History watched a great game yesterday against LSU, shown on Comcast Sports South Channel 45 yesterday and listed on 499 as HDTV, but I couldn’t get it except on 45.
We are Defending SEC Champions in Baseball, and last year went 10-4 after The SEC Tournament, in NCAA Regional, Super-Regional and College World Series play. We graduated 3 of the 9 Position Players off last year’s team who played in the College World Series National Championship Game, and we graduated 6 of the 19 Pitchers.
LSU had gone 6-3 in Postseason Play last season, and figured to be a National Title Contender this season.
So, it is not surprising that 4,092 fans showed up to Foley Field to watch us beat LSU 10-8 yesterday with the rubber game today at noon. LSU counters with their ACE, Louis Coleman today.
SEC teams have played in the College World Series 23 of the Last 24 Years.
The SEC had 1 million 600 hundred thousand fans to our Baseball Games last year, double the fans of the next nearest Conference.
The SEC has sent 36 teams to the College World Series, with Georgia having been 5 times, second only to LSU.
Of the last 19 College World Series, The SEC has Won 6 College World Series and been runner-up 4 times, including Georgia in both categories.
The SEC, since expanding to 12 teams in 1990, has played in 44 percent of all College World Series Games Played, 114 games of the 270 played.
The SEC is 4,545 Wins 1,743 losses and 4 ties against non-conference opponents since 1990, a 72 percent winning percentage.
Half, 6, of The SEC teams this season are ranked in the Baseball Polls, with Georgia Number 1 in the USA Today/ESPN, Number 1 in Collegiate Baseball, Number 1 in the NCBWA, and Number 6 in Baseball America. LSU is Number 2 in one poll and Number 5 in all the other College Baseball Polls.
Georgia is Number 1 in The SEC in ERA today and Number 2 in hitting. We are 11th in fielding percentage. We face the Number 1 Pitcher in The SEC today.
BuLLdawg
April 5th, 2009
8:07 am
If he puts pressure on the dingbat Athletics Director to build us a Gym, I don’t care how he does in winning, recruiting in-state, recruiting out-of-state, against LSU, or anything else.
We are not in the mix in this sport, men’s basketball and chose who we chose, because Mark Fox wanted to come here.
We remain not in the mix in this one sport, with 11 National Coaches of The Year at UGA in the other sports.
We will not be in the mix after he leaves, unless he forces our A.D. to build us a Gym, which is costing us in recruiting in both men’s and women’s basketball.
Is Mark Fox going to be better than Paul Hewitt, with Paul Hewitt’s Losing Record to UGA ?
I think that is obvious.
This is a football school who backs winning programs in all sports.
Will we back men’s basketball at UGA ?
Sure we will.
Now, can the AJ-C “sports-writers” shut up about coaching search for a basketball coach who will NOT have a gym to play in ? Good Lord, this is getting old to hear that Chipper Towers states now today that it was quick. For 3 months now, all this newspaper has done is to write about this coaching search.
Can move on now please ?
Columbus Dawg
April 5th, 2009
8:15 am
We have all waited for spring ball to begin, you would think we could have a football blog up!
RedGADawg
April 5th, 2009
9:53 am
Good news is that when Coach Fox creates a winning program for the DAWGS with his Hounds we will not have to worry that some other program will buy his talent due to UGA Atheletics not having the dough to pay a top tier coach, all other programs are very successful at UGA, annually a TOP 10 for Athletic Director’s Throphy and we don’t offer many of the sports that other schools get points for ie: wrestling, mens -lacrosse, gymnastics and volleyball and there are women’s sports also -lacrosse and field hockey. Soooooooooooo!!!!!! Let’s put on our Rally Caps and help Coach Fox fire up the faithful he can be as successful as Richt, Perno and all the other great coaches at UGA!
The King
April 5th, 2009
10:44 am
Well surly not what we were looking for as we were promised a big name . But us Dawg fans know Adams seldom speaks the truth and is not at Georgia for the Athletics program. Damon Evans who knows? he seems to be alot like Peanut or Walter , Bubba J or Ahkmed the dead Assasin only instead of Jeff Dunham pulling the strings it is Adams …
No doubt we are a football school and he do well with baseball and gymnastics . There is nothing wrong with trying to do well in all sports and I hope we reach this level. As for Fox I’m not saying it is what I wanted to see but it could be worse the guy has passion for the game . Lets hope he can hold onto his players better then Felton did and win alot more. Felton stood in and endured the hole the Harricks put us in he did his job ,I guess. I think we all knew his days were limited from the begiing he never really stood a chance with all the sanctions. His lack of being able to hold onto his players was the nail in a coffin that had been made when he was hired. He was brought in to clean up the program and he did that. Now it will be up to Fox to move us to the next level. I like what I have heard about Fox and think he may be able to make Georgia more competitive he will certainly give us all he has. I hope he does hire a strong recruiter from the South. And when the wins start coming so will the better athletes … Till then it will be up to Fox to get the most out of what he has and he seems to have a record for doing just that.
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2009
2:29 pm
Were we promised a “big name”? I don’t remember that actualy happening.
Pitbull
April 5th, 2009
4:18 pm
Lets just calm down and give Coach Fox a chance to prove himself on the court. He has a history of managing bb teams to win and there is no reason to believe he will not continue to do so. In a few years we may be fighting to keep him and not losing him like Tubby.
The tech jerks on this blog that are dissing our hire are just cowards who are scared that UGA has made a good hire and that they are going to have to keep going onto the court and losing with Hewitt.
Bahahahahahahahaha yourself, jerk.
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2009
4:37 pm
Munzi in the jumbo package, anyone?
Fools Gold
April 5th, 2009
9:28 pm
It is so comical when bloggers like Bulldawg spew gaudy stats to prove a point. The Fact is UGA has only 1 National Championship in baseball. It holds true in the big sport called football. None in ..ahem ..basketball. LSU has shown again who is King in SEC baseball. Last UGA Choked in baseball. This year is more of the same. This program is just a mirror image of Clemson…. Starts out strong but fades away… in other words its Fools Gold!
Chuck Uga
April 5th, 2009
10:58 pm
What I think is that we got a prettry decent coach. Remember we are talking about a program that has historically been a JOKE. With all credit due to Durham, Tubby and even Harrick, we’ve never been able to keep a consistent program going. Hopefully Fox can RECRUIT talent from Georgia and keep it from Bama, Florida and Kentucky. If he can, he will be very successful. My prediction is all the fools who post on here that he is a joke will continue to be the fools they are while this guy succeeds. UGA will be in the NCAA tourney in 2011 if not next year.
Chuck Uga
April 5th, 2009
11:05 pm
Fools Gold…your name is appropriate. This blog is about our new backetball coac, not about LSU baseball. We’ll see who wins the SEC baseball title soon enough.
Don
April 6th, 2009
8:06 am
Great move! A good chance to “grow” a great coach instead of trying to buy one.
robodawg
April 6th, 2009
10:05 am
For those doubting his coaching credentials, just look at what Fox’s former boss at Nevada, and still his best friend, has done at LSU. Every hire is a risk but Fox has proven he can recruit (at NEVADA), develop players (put some in the NBA) and manage a game. Looks to me like a solid hire. Before long I expect we’ll be exciting to watch again.
Chip Towers
April 6th, 2009
4:16 pm
FireChipTowers: Not sure what you’re talking about. Purnell interviewed with Georgia Thursday afternoon in Atlanta. My mistake was reporting that they were in Detroit. They DID talk to Haith and to Anderson and to Capel. So I don’t follow what you’re getting at. But thanks for sharing your opinion just the same.
Candice Dawsone
April 7th, 2009
4:16 pm
I am a gator fan that lives in Alpharetta. But I follow SEC Sports and this is truly a surprise. Is this the best they could do? Xould they not have extended their search for a just a little more time and found someone in the SEC that was an up and coming assistant? And, I am not saying he is not a good coach that won’t good results. But, from a recruiting standpoint it will take him a couple of years to establish himself. So, I look forward to the same Dennis Felton results..
Tom Brown
June 5th, 2009
2:25 am
Should have gone with Bobby! How can Damons be so stupid? BK wanted the job and we snuffed him…Unbelieveable! Just like Georgia Basketball. About as bad as Slonaker!
Tom Brown
June 5th, 2009
2:30 am
Anyone saying this is a good hire is probably used to Georgia Basketball. Yeah we can’t go down any further so lets just prolong the misery. Damons, get off your butt and your high horse and get someone in there that we can be proud of. Sorry coach but you’re not my pick…go home asap. Come on Bobby.
Tom Brown
June 5th, 2009
2:35 am
JD- It’s people like you that goof up the program. I hear you all the time. Give him a chance and just because he doesn’t have ties to the south or hasn’t played in a strong conference. Wow…What the dickens do you think is important? And I can promise you it’s not as important as those two things. You are not a true Bulldog. Go back home, Yank!
Tom Brown
June 5th, 2009
2:37 am
All I wish is that I saw this earlier so I could weigh in and hear everyone’s argument. Bobby wanted the job…Need I say more. BK is basketball and could do more for this program than just .500 basketball.