South Bound & Down
Fansided

Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean’s savvy builds a powerhouse staff

By Richard Gnann

BLOOMINGTON, IN - JANUARY 21: Georgia basketball Head coach Tom Crean waves to the crowd (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - JANUARY 21: Georgia basketball Head coach Tom Crean waves to the crowd (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
ATHENS, GA - MARCH 03: A general view of the court at Stegeman Coliseum prior to the game between the Georgia basketball Bulldogs and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 3, 2015 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA – MARCH 03: A general view of the court at Stegeman Coliseum prior to the game between the Georgia basketball Bulldogs and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 3, 2015 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Joe Scott

New Georgia basketball assistant Joe Scott comes to Georgia from Holy Cross where he served comfortably as an assistant to his longtime coach, colleague, and friend Bill Carmody.

There is an irony to Scott’s arrival in Athens. Like Mark Fox, Scott spent nearly a decade as head coach of a school with little basketball tradition, the University of Denver. Said Irv Moss of the Denver Post about Scott’s firing from The University of Denver in 2016, “A bid to the NCAA Tournament was a major missing link to the University of Denver’s men’s basketball program, and it cost coach Joe Scott his job.”

That sounds familiar enough, but consider Scott’s teams at Princeton excelled defensively, leading the Ivy League in scoring defense in 2007. He is also an outstanding tactician. All indications are Scott is squeaky clean in the eyes of the NCAA and FBI. What Mark Fox took with him when he was fired, Joe Scott is bringing.

The Bulldog comfort zone

Georgia fans hoping to maintain the character of Mark Fox’s Georgia basketball program can take comfort in Scott’s hire.

Having played and coached at Princeton and the Air Force Academy, as well as earning a law degree and serving in a top New Jersey Law firm, Scott will be just fine with the academic and ethical expectations at Georgia.

Bill Tuzzo  quoted Scott for the The Spire.

"“From the days when I was a student at Princeton, I always believed in the philosophy of the student-athlete. It’s called COLLEGE sports for a reason. At the end of the day our players are students, first and foremost.”"

If one requires a more mystical sign, Scott was nominated in 2012 for the Hugh Durham Award, which goes to the top mid-major coach in the nation.

While Tom Crean went out of the region for New Jersey native Joe Scott, he mined the heart of Georgia basketball country for his other two assistants.

Home/Georgia Bulldogs