Previously: Program stability
It's very difficult to win without players.
Yes, there are coaches who seem to get the most out of every player on the roster and can win almost in spite of their talent - think Brad Stevens. Most of the time, though, winning starts on the recruiting trail, and it's here that Mark Fox has taken the most criticism.
I'm not here to tell you Fox has been the best recruiter in the world, but I am going to tell you the trend line is positive and there's reason for optimism.
Between 1979 and 1989, the University of Georgia welcomed in a whopping 7 McDonald's All-Americans: Dominique Wilkins, Terry Fair, Vern Fleming, James Banks, Donald Hartry, Litterial Green, and Shaun Golden.
Since 1990, there have been precisely 2: Carlos Strong and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The point is not that Fox has landed half our All-Americans in the last 25 years (even though he has). The point is that Georgia wasn't necessarily a recruiting powerhouse before he showed up in 2009.
Felton had some decent class in 2007 and 2008 that set the stage for the 2010-11 tournament team, but the cupboard wasn't exactly full when Fox arrived in Athens. Since then, here are the classes he has put together (star rankings are from 247sports.com):
2009: ***Connor Nolte, ***Demario Mayfield, ***Vincent Williams, Gerald Robinson
2010: ***Marcus Thornton, ***Donte' Williams, **Sherrard Brantley
2011: ***Nemanja Djurisic, ***John Cannon, ***Tim Dixon, ***John Florveus, *****Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
2012: ***Kenny Gaines, ***Charles Mann, ***Brandon Morris, **Houston Kessler
2013: ***Juwan Parker, ***J.J. Frazier, ***Cameron Forte, **Kenny Paul Geno
2014: ***Yante Maten, ***Osahen Iduwe
2015 (so far): ***Turtle Jackson, ***E'Torrion Wilridge, ***Derek Ogbeide, ***Michael Edwards
2016 (so far): ****Jordan Harris, ***Tyree Crump
There has been a steady improvement in the quality of athletes Mark Fox is bringing to Athens. It hasn't been as fast as some might have liked, but it's there.
If Tevin Mack decides to join the fold (still a bit of a long shot), 2015 becomes a big-time class. 2016 could be a monster as well. Some services have Crump as the higher rated player, and there are plenty of other stars who could join those two and make it a top 25 haul.
Of course, there's always room for improvement. Fox needs to make better use of graduate transfers. They were sprinkled all throughout the tournament this year and I don't think that's a coincidence.
He also needs to land a "big fish" every two years or so. His classes are full of 4-year grinders, which is incredibly important for a program like Georgia, but it'll take a superstar or two to push them over the top.
Finally, it needs to be pointed out how great the Jonas Hayes and Yasir Rosemond hires were. If you're not a strong recruiter, you hire strong recruiters, and that's what Fox did. 2016 and beyond is when we should start to see those hires really paying off in spades.
It's very difficult to win without players.
Yes, there are coaches who seem to get the most out of every player on the roster and can win almost in spite of their talent - think Brad Stevens. Most of the time, though, winning starts on the recruiting trail, and it's here that Mark Fox has taken the most criticism.
I'm not here to tell you Fox has been the best recruiter in the world, but I am going to tell you the trend line is positive and there's reason for optimism.
Between 1979 and 1989, the University of Georgia welcomed in a whopping 7 McDonald's All-Americans: Dominique Wilkins, Terry Fair, Vern Fleming, James Banks, Donald Hartry, Litterial Green, and Shaun Golden.
Since 1990, there have been precisely 2: Carlos Strong and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The point is not that Fox has landed half our All-Americans in the last 25 years (even though he has). The point is that Georgia wasn't necessarily a recruiting powerhouse before he showed up in 2009.
Felton had some decent class in 2007 and 2008 that set the stage for the 2010-11 tournament team, but the cupboard wasn't exactly full when Fox arrived in Athens. Since then, here are the classes he has put together (star rankings are from 247sports.com):
2009: ***Connor Nolte, ***Demario Mayfield, ***Vincent Williams, Gerald Robinson
2010: ***Marcus Thornton, ***Donte' Williams, **Sherrard Brantley
2011: ***Nemanja Djurisic, ***John Cannon, ***Tim Dixon, ***John Florveus, *****Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
2012: ***Kenny Gaines, ***Charles Mann, ***Brandon Morris, **Houston Kessler
2013: ***Juwan Parker, ***J.J. Frazier, ***Cameron Forte, **Kenny Paul Geno
2014: ***Yante Maten, ***Osahen Iduwe
2015 (so far): ***Turtle Jackson, ***E'Torrion Wilridge, ***Derek Ogbeide, ***Michael Edwards
2016 (so far): ****Jordan Harris, ***Tyree Crump
There has been a steady improvement in the quality of athletes Mark Fox is bringing to Athens. It hasn't been as fast as some might have liked, but it's there.
If Tevin Mack decides to join the fold (still a bit of a long shot), 2015 becomes a big-time class. 2016 could be a monster as well. Some services have Crump as the higher rated player, and there are plenty of other stars who could join those two and make it a top 25 haul.
Of course, there's always room for improvement. Fox needs to make better use of graduate transfers. They were sprinkled all throughout the tournament this year and I don't think that's a coincidence.
He also needs to land a "big fish" every two years or so. His classes are full of 4-year grinders, which is incredibly important for a program like Georgia, but it'll take a superstar or two to push them over the top.
Finally, it needs to be pointed out how great the Jonas Hayes and Yasir Rosemond hires were. If you're not a strong recruiter, you hire strong recruiters, and that's what Fox did. 2016 and beyond is when we should start to see those hires really paying off in spades.
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