The Short List? ESPN's Take on It

Mark Schlabach lists the candidates:

"Among the candidates believed to be high on Georgia's list of potential replacements are Oklahoma's Jeff Capel; Xavier's Sean Miller; UNLV's Lon Kruger; Baylor's Scott Drew; and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant."

That is almost the exact list I heard today from the same sources that told me about the termination yesterday. The only difference would be adding Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh much higher, and possibly swapping Mike Anderson of Missouri for Drew at Baylor. It's also very close to the same list I heard several weeks ago if a search were to start.

If I were putting together a list, those would be the names, and almost in that exact order. They all have pluses and minuses (which we'll explore later), and most will be tough to get out of their current jobs. BUT...it's not a question of "is Georgia a better job." It's a question of "How big a boy are ya?" It's a question of "Will UGA spend the money to get the type of proven candidate that will move the needle here?"

When asked about money during today's press conference, Damon Evans didn't say "money is no object." Which is true, because money is always an object. He said (paraphrase) that he wasn't going to "hold Georgia back" by being cheap on the hire. And that's the right message.

Compare that rumored list to the one from the last search when the three big names were Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger (who immediately withdrew his name) and Dennis Felton. Compare it to the rumored list to replace Jirsa which was Mike Brey and Buzz Peterson (Harrick wasn't even on the radar when he was hired by Adams).

Basically, I'm saying that if Schlabach is correct. That's one hell of a list.

Predictably, various candidates are already jumping to the podium to say they aren't candidates at Alabama and/or Georgia. Tubby was first to say that he's not a candidate at Alabama. He was immediately followed by Mike Anderson. If you deny interest in that job, you're going to deny interest in our job. Neither denial means much at this point in the season. It just means "don't screw up my season by publicly calling me."

The AJC's list adds Dayton's coach, Butler's coach and Marquette's coach alongside Mike Davis of UAB. I personally like Davis, and he's better than what we have. However, Dennis Felton is not the measuring stick for the next coach, and we can do better than Davis. They need to look at the upside of our next coach in comparison to Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan. Not the guy we just fired.

See Also:
-- Mark Bradley endorses Anthony Grant - AJC
-- Terrence Moore says "Give Tubby a Call" - AJC

PWD