Image: Sanderlin/AJC

UPDATE 2: Now we know how much Mark Fox will be making at Georgia.

Fox agreed to six-year deal for $1.3 million a year.

UPDATE: Can’t listen to the press conference? Get updates on twitter from @bulldogsblog.

Vance Leavy of Bulldawg Illustrated chimes in on the hire and he is a glass half full kind of guy on this one.

Like you, I know very little about Fox, but I am a big proponent of knowing a lot about a person by their looks. And I have to say, I like the way this Fox looks. He comes to Athens with a bit of a temper, which I absolutely love. And he definitely appears to have the smarts and savvy to walk the walk in the homes of Georgia high school hoop stars.

Georgia Bulldog super writer David Hale had to Google the name just like the rest of us. In the end though, after all of the reading and research, he gave the hire a thumbs up.

I’ve read his credentials just as you have. He has won a lot of basketball games. He has worked under some good coaches in his career as an assistant. He’s certainly earned a shot to prove he can win at the next level. For all of those reasons, this is a good hire.

Bernie from Bernie’s Dawg Blawg thinks that, yeah, Fox could be as great as Donovan or Pearl one day but Damon and UGA did a piss poor job of managing expectations.

And for that I believe Evans must take some blame; his words set the fanbase up for a BIG hire. He set his sights high and the media and the fans took off running. From the sublime (Capel) to the ridiculous (Knight). While the mutha and the AllJackCrap pimped their supremely vetted candidates, fans ran rampant with names from Anthony Grant to Tom Izzo.

Bernie also touches on the one glaring weakness that Fox has while contrasting him with Alabama’s new coach, Anthony Grant.

I am of the opinion that Grant would have made the better presser, but fall short of feeling he’s all that with a side of chips. The one advantage Grant has over Fox at this point is that he is more familiar with the recruiting roads in GA.

Image: AP

Georgia has hired it’s new men’s basketball coach. Jeff Capel or Jamie Dixon it isn’t…

Georgia has hired Nevada coach Mark Fox as its men’s basketball coach and will introduce him at a news conference tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Athens, according to two people within the UGA athletics department.

Fox has been coach of the Wolf Pack for the past five seasons. He was 123-43 during that span, including 21-13 this past season.

Paul Westerdawg of Georgia Sports Blog thinks it’s a damn good hire.

Specifically, he has more conference titles, more NCAA Tourney wins, more weeks ranked in the Top 25, and more wins against teams you’ve ever heard of than Anthony Grant by a long shot.

I feel a lot better after reading PWD’s post. You?

LINKS:

• What do you think of Dogs getting Fox? – AJC
• UGA basketball makes surprise hire in Mark Fox – AJC
• UGA to Hire Mark Fox as Basketball Coach – Georgia Sports Blog
• Done Deal: UGA To Hire Fox – Bulldogs Blog
• Mark Fox Bio – NevadaWolfpack.com
• Fox heads to Georgia – ESPN
• Welcome to Stegeman Coach Fox – Bernie’s Dawg Blawg
• Georgia Hires Nevada’s Mark Fox as New Basketball Coach – SicEmDawgs.com
• Is Georgia crazy like a Fox, or just crazy? – Mark Bradley/AJC
• Reports: Fox to be named new Georgia coach – Athens Banner-Herald