Georgia’s Tom Crean awaits verdict on job after 26-loss season

A 12-game shedding streak capped by Georgia’s worst offensive efficiency of the season has left coach Tom Crean awaiting a ultimate verdict on his future with the college.

Georgia put up little struggle in what might have been the Bulldogs’ final likelihood to make a case for Crean, shedding 86-51 to Vanderbilt within the first spherical of the Southeastern Convention Match in Tampa on Wednesday night time.

The Bulldogs completed with 26 losses, essentially the most in class historical past. Crean was unable to discover a method to stop the free fall of 20 losses within the ultimate 21 video games.

The SEC Match loss was a becoming end to a dismal season. Georgia was held and not using a discipline objective within the ultimate 12 minutes of the primary half and trailed 35-14 at halftime. The Bulldogs set season lows for fewest factors in a half and a sport.

“A number of the issues that damage us all year long damage us immediately,” Crean mentioned. “Too many turnovers, too many open 3s, an excessive amount of missed communication and an excessive amount of shedding our spirit after we’re not scoring factors.”

When requested if he had addressed his job standing along with his gamers earlier than Wednesday night time’s sport, Crean mentioned: ” what? Something with my state of affairs, that’s received to undergo the athletic division, proper? That’s not a factor I spend numerous time on and I simply coach my group on daily basis. That’s what my focus is.”

Crean’s future now rests with athletic director Josh Brooks. Crean was employed by Brooks’ predecessor, Greg McGarity.

The buyout clause within the six-year, $19.8 million contract Crean signed in 2018 decreases from $7.2 million to $3.2 million with the top of the season.

Crean is 47-75 general and 15-58 in SEC video games in 4 seasons. He has been unable to duplicate the success he loved at Marquette, the place he superior to the Ultimate 4, or Indiana, the place he coached three Candy 16 groups.

Georgia (6-26) misplaced 18 of 19 SEC video games, setting a brand new low for this system within the convention. The Bulldogs suffered essentially the most losses in a season in this system’s historical past whereas being held to just one SEC win for the primary time.

Crean couldn’t overcome the shortcoming to maintain his greatest gamers within the offseason. Georgia’s two main scorers from final season transferred to different SEC faculties — level guard Sahvir Wheeler to Kentucky and guard Okay.D. Johnson to Auburn. One more participant who might have performed a key function this season, Tye Fagan, transferred to Mississippi.

The losses of the three gamers by way of the switch portal was devastating. Georgia then misplaced two gamers to season-ending knee accidents.

The Bulldogs’ solely returning starter, ahead P.J. Horne, was damage earlier than the season. Jailyn Ingram averaged 10.7 factors and 6 rebounds by way of 9 video games earlier than hurting his knee in early December. Crean mentioned he didn’t have a real energy ahead the rest of the season. Because of this, the Bulldogs plummeted to the underside of the SEC standings.

Crean’s spotlight at Georgia was signing Anthony Edwards, who grew to become the NBA’s No. 1 general draft decide by Minnesota in 2020 following one season in Athens. However even with the dynamic abilities of Edwards, Georgia completed solely 16-16 general and 5-13 within the SEC within the 2019-20 season.

Crean mentioned the coronavirus pandemic, which dramatically lower down on in-person visits, shut down his alternative to make the most of the recruiting increase he would have in any other case anticipated from having a Georgia participant chosen because the NBA’s high draft decide. As an alternative, Crean more and more was pressured to depend on transfers.

Georgia’s solely profitable season beneath Crean was a 14-12 end in 2020-21, when the Bulldogs had been 7-11 within the convention.