By ADAM ZAGORIA
Georgia officially parted ways with Mark Fox on Saturday.
This season, Fox went 18-15, 7-11 in the SEC. In nine seasons, he compiled a record of 163-133 (.551).
The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Tournament twice in his tenure, with both resulting in first-round exits as a 10-seed (most recently in 2014-15). Georgia is on the verge of not going dancing for the third straight season despite having potential First-Team All-SEC selection Yante Maten.
The Bulldogs previously possessed the nation’s top 2019 recruiting class in in-state products Ashton Hagans (PG, No. 8 overall in 247Sports Composite rankings) and Elias King (SF, No. 55 overall per 247Sports). Hagans has since dbcommitted and is being courted by Marquette, Georgetown and NC State, among others.
“Days like today are very difficult, especially when you are talking about someone like Mark Fox,” Georgia AD Greg McGarity said in a statement. “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. I know I speak for all Bulldogs to say ‘thank you’ to Mark and Cindy for the time and effort they have devoted to the University of Georgia.
“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.
“We will move forward to search for a new head coach. It will be a national search in scope, and we will move as quickly as possible.”
“For the past nine years, we have had the good fortune to coach some terrific young men,” Fox said. “This chapter has closed, and 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, a couple more NITs and graduate our players. Hopefully, our time here can be the groundwork for more success.”
Potential candidates include former Indiana coach and current ESPN analyst Tom Crean, former Ohio State coach Thad Matta and Nevada coach Eric Musselman.
Photo: USA Today Sports
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