Georgia basketball needs to hire its version of Kirby Smart

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 09: Christian Wright #5 of the Georgia Bulldogs defends during the second half of a game against the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on February 09, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 09: Christian Wright #5 of the Georgia Bulldogs defends during the second half of a game against the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on February 09, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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Georgia basketball should be a priority like the football team, and it’s possible to do without sacrificing either program or another to make it happen. When head coach Kirby Smart got hired, he was the answer to getting over the hump, and now it’s time for the basketball program to find this type of hire.

Sure, some may think Smart is a generational-type coach whose fate was to be in Athens, but it’s still possible. Even some don’t think the basketball program is worthy of a winning head coach because Georgia is solely a football school.

Those people don’t understand how having both football and basketball, men and women, be successful.

There is a basketball Kirby Smart out there for this Georgia basketball program.

Tom Crean is out and now is the perfect opportunity to find their ideal hire. Athletic director Josh Brooks has the most important coaching decision of his career in front of him, but he deserves some credit for ending Crean’s contract early.

One of the biggest candidates that could fulfill the role is Jonas Hayes. The fans want him, former players do, and he could provide the passion that Smart does but for the basketball program.

He went to Georgia, coached under Mark Fox for a while, and now deserves to get this opportunity. Proven head coaches aren’t always the best move. Sometimes it takes the one that gets underestimated because they don’t have enough experience.

Crean was a proven coach. Fox was too, and don’t get us started on Dennis Felton. It’s time for the Dawgs to do things differently regarding the basketball program.

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Georgia basketball has excellent facilities, a great school that has a rich history and there should be no reason it shouldn’t have more success.

It’s past time to elevate this program to match the football one. Hayes is the basketball version of Smart, and it’s time to make the same decision and go with the sentimental hire.