BREAKING: Tom Crean out as Georgia men's basketball head coach

According to multiple reports, the University of Georgia has decided to part ways with head men’s basketball coach Tom Crean following what was an abysmal season for the Bulldogs on the hardwood.

At 1-17 in conference play, an embarrassing conference record for losses, and a dismal 6-26 overall finish to the season after its first-round loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday, the news comes as no surprise and has felt inevitable for several weeks now. In fact, it’s also been reported that Georgia is already working with a search firm to help find the next head coach and has been doing so for several weeks now.

Statement from Georgia

Georgia made the news official with the following statement:

The University of Georgia has decided to change the leadership of its men’s basketball program, and Tom Crean will not return for his fifth season as the Bulldogs’ head coach.

“I would like to sincerely thank Coach Crean and his family for their commitment to Georgia Basketball,” said Josh Brooks, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics. “Tom Crean demonstrated unquestionable effort and enthusiasm in what he has attempted to accomplish at Georgia.  That said, our expectation is to compete for post-season success in all 21 sports. We believe a leadership change in men’s basketball is needed to achieve our goals.”

This season, Georgia finished 6-26 overall and 1-17 in the SEC. Crean compiled a 47-75 record and was 15-57 in SEC play during his four seasons. 

The Bulldogs broke their all-time total attendance record in each of Crean’s first two years, and during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Georgia recorded two of its top-5 scoring averages during the 2000s. Anchored by Anthony Edwards, Crean signed six top-100 prospects during his first full recruiting cycle. Edwards left after earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors to become the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft. 

A national search for Georgia’s next head men’s basketball coach will begin immediately.

The file on Tom Crean

Crean arrived in Athens on March 16, 2018 with hopes of turning the program around after taking some time away from the game. Previous stops for the longtime head coach included Marquette and Indiana with a Final Four appearance already to his name. However, things haven’t quite gone the way he would have hoped.

Taking over for Mark Fox who had led the team for nine seasons, Crean has amassed a 47-75 record over the course of his four years on the job.

During his first season on the job, the 2018-19 season, the Bulldogs went 11-21. They were 2-16 in the SEC with a cast of characters that didn’t quite fit Crean’s scheme. However, landing one of the nation’s top recruits Anthony Edwards, who went on to be drafted No. 1 overall after one season coached by Crean, gave fans hope that things could be different in the near future.

In year two, Georgia improved slightly, going 16-16 with a top-10 win over Memphis on the road to its name. Going 5-13 in the SEC was also an improvement, and the Bulldogs even won their first game at the SEC Tournament, something they weren’t able to do the previous year, before COVID shut things down. There was no opportunity to potentially make a run and earn a spot in the postseason, even the NIT. Instead, everything ended abruptly. But, once again, there were signs of hope mixed in with some of the lackluster results.

Year three brought about a new challenge. COVID-19 meant that the season was going to look a lot different than normal. The number of fans attending games was limited, and the format of the schedule as a whole was out of the ordinary. However, once again, Crean and company managed to improve their record, going above .500 with a 14-12 overall record and two more wins in the SEC at 7-11. Things went downhill fast though as Crean watched the best players from that team enter the transfer portal and decide to play elsewhere, leaving him with the challenge of rebuilding from the ground up. Nine new players have taken the court for Georgia in the 2021-22 season including a completely different starting lineup. All that has led to has been one of the worst seasons in Georgia Basketball history in Crean’s fourth season.

That has us at today, where Crean and the athletic administration have decided to go separate ways following Georgia’s first-round exit from the 2022 SEC tournament. His hopes of making Georgia into a football school with a successful basketball program have fallen short and there’s a mess to be cleaned up by the next coach. Who might that be? Consult our hot board for the possibilities.

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