Georgia Basketball took big L to start off the week when 2019 commitment Ashton Hagans opened back up his recruitment. In doing so, he might have taken away UGA’s last reason to keep Mark Fox.
Mark Fox and Georgia basketball can’t seem to catch a break in 2018. While it looks like this will be another lost season, Fox at least had been experiencing some recent success in recruiting. Ashton Hagans is a top 10 player in the 2019 class. He’s the highest ranked commitment UGA has had in Basketball in a very long time and likely would have been the first one-and-done players UGA has signed.
His decision to commit to UGA back around Christmas was a very welcome surprise. I for one didn’t see it coming. Fox has never previously been in battles for guys this talented. Hagans and top 60 player Elias King gave UGA their best class ever since Fox took over. Obviously there was a lot of time left for him to lose those players, but he had won them both over once.
Hagans’ decision isn’t great for Georgia Basketball, but it’s really bad for Mark Fox. His team has disappointed again this year. They have wasted the last two seasons of Yante Maten. Having these two potentially elite players coming down the road was one of the few things he could point to. With the rest of college basketball going down on corruption charges, Fox had a chance of surving.
It’s hard for me to see that happening now. After so many years of under achievement, Fox can’t point to any real success in the past. Another failed season mean he has earned little benefit from the fans for the present. Now, he can no longer point to the future and honestly say that things are going to get better.
Missing out on one player shouldn’t cost a head coach his job. Unfortunately, Hagans was probably the final reason why Georgia would stick by Mark Fox next season. His departure should mean that the Dawgs move on as well.