When Tom Crean took the podium for his introductory press conference as Georgia’s new head men’s basketball coach on Friday afternoon, he gave an opening statement that lasted longer than 26 minutes.
And the last sentence was just as energetic and emphatic as the first.
Crean, who spent nine years each as the head coach at Indiana and Marquette from 1999-2017, was officially announced as Georgia’s new head men’s basketball coach on Thursday night. He replaced Mark Fox, who Georgia parted ways with after nine seasons on March 10 after a disappointing 18-15 season.
But in hiring Crean, it appears that the Georgia program has gotten a shot in the arm. Crean emphasized three main things that he wants the program to possess: energy, “a player development mindset,” and the ability to recruit well. And the most obvious of those attributes during his introduction was the energy.
“There's going to be an energy,” Crean said. “There's going to be a foundation of enthusiasm, energy and intensity, demands, details, but it is going to be done based on what can you do and how can we get [players] better at this or that, versus he can't do this, he won't do that. We don't coach in can't's and won't's.”
Crean holds a career record of 356-231 through his 18 total seasons at Marquette and Indiana. He went to five NCAA Tournaments at Marquette and led the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four, a team that included NBA star Dwyane Wade. Crean then went on to rebuild Indiana, going from 6-25 in his first season to three Sweet 16 appearances during his tenure.
Georgia has been to the NCAA Tournament just twice in the last nine seasons under Fox and never advanced past the first round.
But moving forward under Crean, there is optimism that Georgia will no longer have to hold its breath on Selection Sunday.
“I’d love on Selection Sunday, just [saying], ‘Georgia is in. What [seeding] line is Georgia on?’” athletic director Greg McGarity said. “I think that is the aspiration of every program. Once you get in [the NCAA Tournament], you have an opportunity. But you have no chance if you are not in it…Tom can provide that blueprint on how to get there.”
Crean is hoping to take his pedigree of success and his energy to the recruiting trail to obtain talent from the talent-rich Atlanta area. He had his share of highly touted recruits at his past jobs but he also managed to find some diamonds in the rough.
Dwyane Wade was not highly touted when he went to a small Marquette program but he was eventually a top-five pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and has gone on the be a perennial NBA All-Star with three NBA titles. Victor Oladipo was rated as just a three-star prospect by several outlets and was selected No. 2 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft out of Indiana. He also made the NBA All-Star team this season.
Combine those notable names with other recruits that were highly regarded, such as Cody Zeller to name one, and Crean feels that he can find a great mixture of talent in the southeast to help build Georgia into a powerhouse program. And that was something that his predecessor, Fox, was criticized for not doing enough of.
“We’ve got to give [the recruits] a reason to want to come,” Crean said. “We’ve got to let them know that there’s no question that our track record of what we’ve done, not only winning but with the individual success of those players that have translated into the NBA, that’s going to matter. I’ve got guys that are making over $20 million a year. I’ve got guys that are making over $17 million a year. A majority of those guys were never McDonald’s All-Americans.”
While Crean is bringing great energy, there, of course, is no guarantee that the hire will work out.
Crean was fired from Indiana after the 2016-17 season after going 18-16 in a year where the team was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation early on. And McGarity himself admitted that “any hire you make is a risk.”
But Crean is sticking to what has worked for him in the past. He is bringing enthusiasm and intensity while attacking expectations head on. And he set the bar as high as possible while still at his introductory press conference as head coach of the Bulldogs.
"It is going to be an absolute honor and a privilege to join Greg [McGarity] and this entire athletic department, to join President [Jere] Morehead and the entire university and to join every alum in continuing to build this program into what it can continue to become,” Crean said. “And that is one of the most outstanding, energetic, driven basketball programs in the country that can compete and play for national championships, that can play for conference championships, that can play for any championship that's put in front of them by working towards it on a daily basis.”