4/19/2018 basketball Edit

Crean brings in second assistant

Former Denver head coach Joe Scott will be Tom Crean's latest assistant hire. (USA Today)

Anthony Dasher • UGASports

Editor

Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean has settled on Joe Scott as his second assistant coach, the school announced via Twitter Thursday.

Currently an assistant at Holy Cross, Scott helped the Crusaders finish second in the Patriot League in scoring defense (67.7 points per game), after leading the league the season before (62.1).

“My family and I are extremely excited to be joining the Georgia family,” Scott said in a statement. “The University of Georgia is a special place. This is a tremendous opportunity to help Coach Crean implement his vision and make Georgia Basketball special. I cannot wait to get started coaching our players to develop and get better every day.”

Prior to coming to Holy Cross, Scott served as the head coach at Denver from 2007-2016, posting a 146-132 record during his tenure.

Ironically, Scott won the 2012 Hugh Durham Award as the top mid-major coach in the country after setting a school record with 22 wins and a trip to the NIT.

Prior to his job at Denver, Scott was the head coach at Princeton – his alma mater – from 2004-2007.

His team led the country in scoring defense at 52.9 points per game, while his 2006-2006 squad finished second in the Ivy League with a 10-4 conference mark.

Scott also served as the head coach at the Air Force Academy from 2000-2004. Prior to that, he served eight years as an assistant coach at Princeton.

A 1987 graduate of Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in history, Scott went on to earn his law degree from Notre Dame in 1990.

Scott becomes Crean’s second hire after bringing in Chad Dollar two weeks ago.

“I’m excited to welcome Joe, Leah, Ben and Jack to our Georgia Basketball family and the entire UGA community,” Crean said. “Joe is known nationally as someone who excels at coaching, teaching and competing. He has tremendous respect of his peers who have gone against him and those who have worked along side him. He will bring many different elements to our program, but overall and he will help our young men get better every day.”