Image: ESPN

Georgia players expressed their enthusiasm in the potential hire of Bobby Knight, the Indiana coaching legend, as their head coach.

Georgia freshman Trey Thompkins…

“Coach Knight is a legend,” Thompkins said. “I’d love to have him coach here, and I feel like he’d make me even better than I am now.

“That would honestly be a tremendous thing to me. I’d be really happy.”

…and Albert Jackson…

“I would love to have a coach of that caliber, that stature,” Jackson said. “You have a Hall of Fame coach, you have somebody like that, all you can do is be happy.

“If Bobby Knight wants to come in here, I’d be more than happy.”

…and who could blame them? Love him or hate him, Bobby Knight is a sports icon and coaching legend. If you were down and out over your coach being fired and presented with the possibility of having the position filled by the winningest coach in NCAA history, you’d probably be excited too.

You’d always be able to tell your grand kids you played for “The General”. You’d benefit from the increased media exposure, etc…

I have been surprised by the amount of support that Knight has received amongst Georgia fans though. My own brother, who’s never really followed the basketball team that closely, is crazy about the idea. He really just wants to see the lightning bolt of media coverage that will descend on Athens if he’s hired.

In other words, he’s excited by the novelty of it.

It’d be neat! And if it didn’t work out, basketball never meant that much to him in the first place.

Fortunately for the future of Georgia Basketball I believe Damon Evans will take a longer view and hire someone that will be able to begin work on building a winning, and sustainable basketball tradition.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN just identified Jeff Capel (Oklahoma), Sean Miller (Xavier) and Anthony Grant (VCU) as Georgia’s A-list of candidates to replace Dennis Felton.

If so, that is good news, as each one would be capable of building the tradition of which Georgia hoops fans have been deprived, without the baggage that may just drag us further down.