The Tom Crean era of Georgia basketball will reportedly come to an end once the 2021-22 season concludes, according to Chip Towers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
An official decision has not been made, but “all indications” are that Crean and the Bulldogs will part ways after four seasons together, per Towers.
The bottom fell out for Crean this year as Georgia stumbled along to a 6–25 record, making for the program’s worst season since the 1955-56 campaign. The Bulldogs went a dismal 1-17 in SEC play, finishing last in the conference by a fair margin.
The situation in Athens hit a low point in February when a physical altercation between assistant coach Wade Mason and director of player personnel Brian Fish broke out during halftime of a game between Georgia and LSU. Graham Coffey of Dawg Sports reported at the time that the school was looking into firing Crean for breach of contract after the head coach supposedly failed to properly inform the university of the incident.
Georgia later released a statement on the situation regarding Crean’s job status, denying that the incident was reported improperly.
“There have been various media reports related to UGA Athletics personnel ranging from completely inaccurate to incomplete and premature,” the school said in a release, per The Athletic‘s Seth Emerson. “The incident in question was reported properly as required by university policies and is under review. We will comment if and when appropriate.
Although Crean avoided getting the axe in February, his disappointing stint in Athens seems to be coming to an end due to his team’s poor performance on the court. The 55-year-old coach has posted a 47–70 overall record as Georgia’s coach heading into the SEC tournament.
Crean’s time at the helm is expected to come to an end whenever the Bulldogs are eliminated from this week’s conference tournament. No. 14 Georgia will take on No. 11 Vanderbilt in the first round on Wednesday night.
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