UGA Assistant Basketball Coach Rumblings

Georgia coach Mark Fox is searching for two assistant basketball coaches to round out his staff. He's expected to bring on coaches with ties to the region. In lieu of any confirmed stories...

The most rumored named out there is Philip Pearson. Pearson was a former Alabama player ('89-94) who spent 11 years as an assistant coach with the Crimson Tide. When Mark Gottfried was terminated earlier this season, Pearson served on an interim basis. From '02-'09 (as far back as Scout.com's database goes), Alabama signed the following kids from Georgia:

'09 Shawn Kemp - Canton
'08 Tony Mitchell - Swainsboro
'07 Senario Hillman - Irwinton
'06 Avery Jukes - Snellville
'05 Ray George - GA Based JUCO (Originally NC)
'03 Shawn Taylor - Vienna
'03 Jamareo Davidson - Stone Mountain
'02 Evan Brock - Marietta

Six of those eight kids were listed as four stars according to Scout.com. As a point of reference, UGA only signed five kids rated four stars or higher (excluding Louis Williams) from Georgia during that time frame. And we live here.

It would be a solid hire.

The connection to Fox? One of Mark's former mentors is Tom Asbury. Fox worked for Asbury at Kansas State, and Asbury worked with Pearson for about four years as an assistant at Alabama. IF this is the direction they go...I like it.

I have a name for the other open position, but I'm less confident in putting it out there. If it's who I heard it might be, he's also a coach with SEC ties as a player who has coached in the region. I think that he's also been involved with some extremely high profile recruits. It would be another intriguing hire.

PWD