If this is Damon Evans' legacy hire ... just wow

That may be even more delusional than UK fans.

 

Who was Georgia going to get that is better than this?

The Missouri guy said no. There isn't any major conference guy I can think of who'd go there. Mark Few isn't going there. Sean Miller has turned down better jobs.....

I think considering the job, this is a pretty good hire.

 

Damon Evans is paid to put together a successful athletic program. Period.

He's not paid to chase after the hotshot VCU or Mizzou coach of the moment, just because the talk-show wonks are holding his feet to the fire, when Georgia men's basketball is far away from being a regular contender for the NCAA tournament.

He made a realistic hire that could pay off in the long run. And regardless of what the woof-woof wonks want to believe, it's not a bad move for that particular program. Sure, he could have lucked out and done a lot better by snagging a Grant or Anderson. But he also could have done a lot worse.

Knowing Evans the way I do ... I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows what he's doing.

 

Do you really think this guy can compete with the wolves in the East: Calipari, Pearl and Donovan? Doubtful. He's a lamb among lions.

Alabama hit a home run hiring a coach who was going to be Florida's pick to replace Donovan (a seal of approval up there with a papal seal). Georgia got an infield single, maybe. But he's still an upgrade over Felton and that isn't saying much.

 

There are already more people in this thread that give a shit about this hire than there are in the entire state of Georgia.

Given the choice of any coach in America for the basketball team or a healthy A.J. Green (or any other important football player) for spring practice, they'll take Green every time.

 

Fox has been to the NCAAs twice. Grant has been to the NCAAs twice. Fox has made the Round of 32 once. Grant has made the Round of 32 once. Fox has recruited some NBA players. Grant has recruited some NBA players.

Now, as for the "wolves": Cal's obvious, no argument there. Bruce Pearl has built a nice little house of cards recruiting 80 6'6" guys who wear matching headbands and who can't shoot for shit, which is nice for 20 wins and a second round exit every year, but certainly not a force that can't be moved. Billy Donovan loses the two best players (and the one with any semblance of mental acumen) off a team that got punked...in the NIT quarterfinals. He hasn't made the NCAAs any more recently than Georgia has, and had no answers whatsoever in Athens last year.

So no, this isn't the greatest hire in the world, but it's a reasonable one. Might work out, might not, probably won't be a disaster. A steward can get this team to the NCAAs every once in a while is all Georgia asks of a basketball coach. But let's not kid ourselves and think that, outside of Cal, the SEC is a warzone where the meek go to die. It's a lousy conference with underachieving coaches and players. Ripe for the pickin'.

 

He's not a splashy hire, but this could pan out well if Georgia fans give him some time to recruit.

 

As long as he isn't losing 20 games a year, he'll have time.

Next year will be rough, though.

 

It going to be much worse than this year?

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Job #1 is convincing Trey Thompkins to stay. He hasn't been hinting he'll leave, but you never know. Fox' offense will go through Thompkins, so he'll be happy with that.

Job #2 is getting Jeremy Price's head straight. Price, who's legitimately talented, saw his PT dwindle down to nothing because of his 'tude at the end of last year. He and Trey apparently aren't best buds. Smells like a potential transfer.

Job #3 is clearing up a disaster of a backcourt. Georgia will lose Zac Swansey and Troy Brewer, which is probably addition by subtraction. Corey Brewer is graduating; he's pretty lousy but is at least a warm body. Dusty Ware is the PG of the next few years...he's not horrible, but won't be given much in terms of backups or shooting guards.

If Jeremy Price transfers and no one can shoot from outside, then yeah, this team will be as bad as or worse than last year. If Trey Thompkins all of a sudden thinks this Fox guy isn't for him, then we're talking single-digit wins.

Georgia's best player, Terrance Woodbury, graduates this spring. Without T-Wood, this team would have beaten Vandy and no one else in conference play. So.

 

Nevada has had its moments.

 

The SEC is down, but not out. I agree on Tennessee and their orange cremesicle sweatmaster, Bruce Pearl. They haven't been able to hit the ocean from the beach from behind the arc since Chris Lofton won SEC POTY in '04.

Billy Donovan will bounce back. It's kind of difficult to dog a coach who lost his entire starting lineup that won two titles in a row and had to rebuild literally from scratch.

Cal may be dirty, but I think he's smart enough not to get caught and he'll make Kentucky a national powerhouse again. Guaranteed.

And Georgia is an excellent recruiting ground for hoops. If you can't build a team with mostly local talent from the Atlanta area, you can't build one at all.

The SEC will rebound from this year's miserable showing in the Big Dance, but they're still several steps behind the Big East and ACC in the hoops pecking order.