Georgia Basketball: 8 candidates to replace Tom Crean as head coach

Rob Lanier

There’s nothing wrong with hiring a mid-major coach who’s done a great job in recent years. Not every program is going to get that home run hire; the Shaka Smart-level hire that changes everything. Honestly, that move didn’t really help Texas, did it? Anyways, Georgia is lucky, because there’s a talented and experienced mid-major head coach in their very state who could be perfect for this job.

Lanier has more than three decades of coaching experience ever since he played his college ball at St. Bonaventure. He took Siena to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach and has had successful assistant coaching stints at Rutgers, Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee. This past season, his third as head coach at Georgia State, he led the Panthers back to the NCAA Tournament, a successful culmination after winning last year’s regular season title in the Sun Belt.

He may be a native of New York, but Lanier has made his mark most recently in the south. He’s got recent experience in the SEC on Rick Barnes’ Tennessee staff, and has shown at Georgia State that he can maintain the success of a basketball program. Georgia could weaken their in-state rival and steal one of the better and most experienced mid-major coaches; though you have to wonder if Lanier’s time in Georgia would wind up like his failed stint with Siena.