UPHILL CLIMB
Most of Georgia’s basketball coaches have failed to produce a winning career record in SEC play:Mark Fox (2009-18) 77-79Pete Herrmann (2009) 3-9Dennis Felton (2003-09) 26-59Jim Harrick (1999-2003) 12-31*Ron Jirsa (1997-99) 13-19Tubby Smith (1995-97) 19-13Hugh Durham (1978-95) 148-150John Guthrie (1973-78) 20-70Ken Rosemond (1965-73) 60-82Red Lawson (1951-65) 56-141* Georgia had to vacate 19 league wins from Harrick’s final two seasons.
The Mark Fox coaching era in Georgia men's basketball ended Saturday after nine seasons that yielded four 20-win campaigns and only two journeys to the NCAA tournament.
Georgia was eliminated at the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday with a 62-49 quarterfinal loss to Kentucky. The Bulldogs have an 18-15 record in Fox's final season, which included a 7-11 mark in SEC regular-season games.
"Days like today are very difficult, especially when you are talking about someone like Mark Fox," Bulldogs athletic director Greg McGarity said Saturday night in a release. "We have worked alongside each other for eight seasons, and I have the utmost respect for Mark, his staff, our student-athletes, and the support staff. They have always represented the University of Georgia in a professional manner.
"In the end, I felt like we have not reached our full potential as a basketball program. I really thought we were on the way to turning the corner this year. We just did not achieve the level of success as a program that I believe we should at the University of Georgia."
Georgia went 163-133 overall under Fox and 77-79 in league games. The Bulldogs made NCAA tournament trips in 2011 and 2015, getting immediately bounced by Washington in 2011 and Michigan State four years later.
The Bulldogs do not have a recognized NCAA tournament triumph since 1996, which is the longest drought among SEC programs. They had a 2002 victory over Murray State vacated due to NCAA sanctions under former coach Jim Harrick.
This season's 12th-place finish in the SEC standings occurred despite the production of senior forward Yante Maten, who was voted last week as the league player of the year by The Associated Press.
Fox had two years remaining on a five-year contract that paid him $2 million annually. He is expected to receive a buyout of slightly more than $1 million.
"For the past nine years, we have had the good fortune to coach some terrific young men," Fox said. "I am grateful to the many who have helped us along the way but especially to the young men who wore the red and black. We've been able to reach a couple of NCAA tournaments, some NITs and graduate our players.
"Hopefully, our time here can be the groundwork for more success."
Two potential candidates for Georgia who could be sought for several openings in this cycle are former Marquette and Indiana coach Tom Crean and former Ohio State coach Thad Matta. Crean, who guided Marquette to the 2003 Final Four and averaged 23 wins a year during his last six seasons with the Hoosiers, told "Press Row" on Chattanooga's ESPN 105.1 FM this past week that he definitely wants to return to coaching after spending this season as an ESPN analyst.
"To me it's just a matter of when," Crean said. "I don't really have a timeline on it, because I want to make sure I'm going back to a situation with really great leadership and people you're going to partner with inside of that basketball program who are going to go through those fights with you when you're trying to build a program.
"I want to go somewhere where it really matters and where the fans, even if they're not coming right now, come back and know what winning is like and want to do it again. I want to go where there is a passion for all the sports. Facilities are important, but not nearly as important as a place where it matters."
Matta coached Ohio State to a 337-123 record from 2004 to 2017, with his 2007 Buckeyes losing to Florida in the NCAA championship game and his 2012 team falling to Kansas in the Final Four. He reportedly spoke earlier this month with officials at Ole Miss, which is the other SEC school currently with a vacancy.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.