Felton surprised his future is an issue

ATLANTA — Georgia coach Dennis Felton seemed somewhat surprised that reporters asked about his job security following his press conference Wednesday at the Georgia Dome.

“As far as I know, I’m certain about my future,” Felton said. “I haven’t been told anything about anything I need to do to remain the coach at Georgia. I expect to be Georgia’s coach for a long time.”

Georgia athletic director Damon Evans won’t make a decision regarding Felton until the season is over. That could be tonight, when the Bulldogs, last in the SEC East and 2-11 over their last 13 games, play Ole Miss in the SEC tournament.

The Bulldogs expected to make the NCAA tournament field for the first time in Felton’s five years when the season began. But Felton dismissed leading scorers Mike Mercer and Takais Brown for academic issues, setting the foundation for a 13-16 season.

“All I can do,” Felton said, “is give my heart and soul to my team and my program.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that I certainly can’t control everything that’s written about me. I do my best not to spend too much time worrying about that and just keep doing my job the best I can. And I remain proud of the job our staff and players have done.”

Those players defended him Wednesday.

“I think he’ll be back,” Georgia point guard Sundiata Gaines said. “He lost a couple of players, but it wasn’t because of his problem. He does the right thing off the court as far as academics and he sets good discipline within the program. I personally think he’ll be back here next year. As a team, we have to focus on what we have on the court. And we’ll leave it to our athletic association to make that decision.”

Of course, the Bulldogs can postpone Evans’ announcement by winning in this week’s tournament.

“By winning the tournament, I think that would definitely keep everybody’s mouths shut because obviously he did something pretty good,” Gaines said. “Usually when it comes down to a situation like that, it comes down to the players. We’re going to do the best we can to win a championship for him.”