The Dawgs made it back to the NCAA tournament this year for only the fourth time in the last 11 years and only the eighth time since 1990. Coach Mark Fox led the team to the dance in his second year as head coach, quite an accomplishment given the troubled history of the program. The team struggled in the early '90s under coach Hugh Durham during my time as a student. I loved basketball but was forced to endure some of the most pitiful displays of basketball in the history of the school. Things began to look up when Georgia hired Tubby Smith away from Rick Pitino and the University of Kentucky.
Great progress was made during Smith's tenure, but the team had the rug pulled from under it when Tubby signed a contract extension with UGA and then abandoned ship to take the head coaching job at UK. I thought the move was a mistake for Tubby at the time, since he could have become a legend if he had stayed at UGA and turned the program into a contender. Tubby performed well at UK, but, as often happens when you follow a legend, he could never live up to the expectations of Kentucky fans. Tubby's reign at UGA was followed by the painful Jirsa years and suffering was again the theme of Georgia basketball.
Fortunes seemed to turn when Jim Harrick was hired in 1999. He took the Dawgs to the tournament twice in his four year turn at the wheel, only to leave the program in shambles following an embarrassing scandal. Dennis Felton then took over the program in 2003 and appeared to have the Bulldogs on the right track after a miraculous SEC tournament in 2008, which the Dawgs won after playing 4 games in 3 days in the conference tournament that was disrupted by the tornado that tore through downtown Atlanta and the Georgia Dome. Felton could not recapture the magic that happened during that historic tournament and was fired mid-season 2009, leaving the program again searching for a leader.
Enter Coach Mark Fox, who took over the program for the 2009-2010 season after Pete Hermann finished the 2008-2009 season. The 2009-2010 team was very inconsistent, but showed moments of promise which lead to a degree of anticipation for this season. Overall, I am pleased with the progress that has been made in the short time Coach Fox has had with the team. 21 wins. Wins against Tech and Kentucky this year. Near misses with Florida, Vandy, and Notre Dame. An NCAA Tournament appearance. Not bad for a second season as head coach. There is again hope for the UGA men's basketball program.
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