Georgia Basketball: Bulldogs nail hire with Tom Crean
Georgia made the splash of the college basketball coaching carousel by hiring Tom Crean out of the ESPN broadcasting booth.
On the first full day of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Tom Crean lost his job with the Indiana Hoosiers.
On the first full day of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Tom Crean gained a new job with the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia picked up the hottest coaching free agent in college basketball, putting Crean back in the driver’s seat after a year away from coaching. The team confirmed the hire late on Thursday evening.
Beat writer Marc Weiszer reports that the deal will pay Crean in excess of $3 million annually for the next six years.
Breaking news: UGA has hired Tom Crean to a six-year deal to pay him $3.2 million annually. UGA athletic board executive committee just approved former Indiana coach to head men's basketball program.
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) March 16, 2018
This is a home run hire for the Bulldogs. For starters, it’s just a good look for Georgia. There are plenty of quality openings right now, including Pitt, Memphis, and UConn. Bringing Crean to Georgia demonstrates that the program is serious about competing in basketball and the coach himself validates that mission.
Second of all, he was very simply the best coach remaining on the market. The debate seemed to be between Crean and former Ohio State Buckeyes coach Thad Matta. Their resumes are relatively similar – Matta has a better winning percentage and more Final Fours, but Crean has significantly fewer health concerns.
Many people dismiss Crean for the job that he did at Indiana, never taking the team further than the Sweet Sixteen in nine years. He needs to be cut some slack, though. Crean inherited a program in the midst of a massive embarrassment of scandal brought on by Kelvin Sampson. He spent almost half of his tenure rebuilding the program into something viable.
He’ll need time to rebuild the Bulldogs. Georgia is losing their only star in Yante Maten.
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Given time, however, Tom Crean should turn the Georgia Bulldogs into a consistent threat in the SEC.