Dick Vitale knows who Georgia should hire as its next basketball coach

There seems to be a growing sentiment in the college basketball world that Georgia will hire Tom Crean as its next coach.

If Dick Vitale had any say in the matter, it would be a done deal.

The ESPN college basketball analyst weighed in on Wednesday with his belief that Crean is the “ideal” choice to replace Mark Fox at Georgia:

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

Vitale then doubled down on that opinion Thursday morning during an appearance on SportsCenter by predicting that the former Indiana coach would wind up at Georgia.

That was around the same time that USA Today’s Dan Wolken reported that there was “mutual interest” between Georgia and Crean, and that the parties were expected to meet on Thursday.

Vitale’s initial tweet came after Thad Matta announced that he would not be accepting the job at Georgia. Some would argue that Crean, who spent the last season as a college basketball analyst at ESPN, would be the better fit for the Dawgs.

In 9 seasons at Indiana, Crean led the Hoosiers to a pair of Big Ten regular season titles and 2 Sweet 16 appearances. Including the 9 years he spent at Marquette, Crean has 18 years of head coaching experience.

Perhaps we won’t have to wait long to see if Vitale’s prediction comes true.

SDS Staff

Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.