A day after Thad Matta walked away, Georgia has reached out to former Indiana head coach Tom Crean.
Here are details:
A day after losing out on their first target, Georgia officials have moved on and made contact with the other big name on the college basketball coaching market: Tom Crean.
Crean, the former Indiana and Marquette coach, was contacted by Georgia on Wednesday, an industry source confirmed Thursday morning. It is not known whether Georgia is talking to other candidates, just that Crean is one of the coaches it is speaking to.
Thad Matta, the former Ohio State coach, turned down Georgia’s five-year offer of at least $16 million on Wednesday. Matta had been in Athens on Monday and Tuesday and clearly was the initial target for Georgia.
This is not the first time Georgia has reached out to Crean: After Mark Fox was fired last Saturday, representatives for Georgia contacted Crean, but it did not go further than that until after Matta turned down UGA.
Dick Vitale approves:
I said it once and I will say it again…To bring excitement and energy to @UGABasketball the most ideal choice is @TomCrean
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 14, 2018
Crean also reportedly met with the administration at Pittsburgh recently:
Pittsburgh met with former Indiana coach Tom Crean on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
The Panthers parted with basketball coach Kevin Stallings last week after just two seasons and hired Fogler Consulting to help with the search for Stallings’ replacement.
