NCAA Basketball: Top 10 impact head coaching hires from 2009 offseason

By Joey Loose | Jun 14, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers cuts down the net after his teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Mark Fox of the Georgia Bulldog (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /

8. Mark Fox (Georgia)

Though it seems foreign today, Georgia actually had a pretty solid basketball program for the better part of the last two or three decades. Previous coach Dennis Felton had overseen a bit of a downturn for the Bulldogs, leading to his dismissal and the opening in 2009. Getting the program back on track was a big task for his successor, though that certainly wasn’t easy in the SEC, especially with Florida and Kentucky both looking sharp in recent years.

The coaching search landed on Mark Fox, a name that had risen in coaching circles in recent years. Fox had begun his coaching career as an assistant on the staffs of Washington and Kansas State, getting valuable experience. He worked for and succeeded Trent Johnson at Nevada, leading the Wolf Pack to three NCAA Tournaments and a pair of first-round victories. His solid work with the Wolf Pack made him an attractive candidate for many jobs.

Fox did not make Georgia a household name in basketball again, but his work with the Bulldogs was still solid. He led them to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and a slew of NIT bids, which is more than Felton had done. There was never a really bad season for Georgia, who were comfortably above .500 in each of Fox’s last five seasons. Fired in 2018, he’s since been hired at California while the Bulldogs continue to struggle for national relevance.

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