One certainly can be critical of Georgia’s performance in Tom Crean’s first two seasons as men’s basketball coach. But he deserves nothing but praise for his ability to raise the profile of the Bulldogs.
For the second consecutive year, UGA will establish a single-season attendance record as Arkansas comes to town for Saturday’s 6 p.m. tip at Stegeman Coliseum (SEC Network). The Bulldogs have drawn 144,047 total fans for their 15 home games to date. That’s 4,653 shy of the program’s total attendance record of 147,800 fans a year ago. Saturday's game and the last home game versus Florida are already sellouts, so the old mark should be eclipsed significantly.
When placed in the context that Georgia (14-14, 4-11 SEC) has won only six SEC games during that stretch, and 25 overall, perhaps Crean should be named Marketer of the Year.
“I knew we were close, but I didn’t know it was going to be broken,” Crean said before the Bulldogs’ practice Friday at the Coliseum Training Facility. “That’s great. I can stand here and talk about that all day, thanking the fans for what they’re doing. I mean, they really are staying behind us. We lose those games and all of a sudden, we’re sold out again.”
Crean deflects a lot of the credit toward Georgia’s fans and the athletic association’s promotions and marketing team. But there’s no denying that Crean’s presence is the greatest factor at work here.
The college basketball coaching veteran is a brand of his own. Crean’s previous stops were Marquette and Indiana, followed by a year as an ESPN television analyst.
Meanwhile, Crean has been extremely active on campus, meeting regularly with student and alumni groups to ask for their support and also encourage them to stick with them the team. Several of the groups were invited to the team's facility recently for a reception and pictures with the team.
The biggest factor, however, is probably the make-up of the Bulldogs and how they play. Utilizing a fast-paced style of what Crean calls “position-less basketball,” the Bulldogs rank fourth in the league in scoring at 76.1 points per game.
It doesn’t hurt that they’re doing that with a dynamic bunch of freshmen, led by projected No. 1 draft pick Anthony Edwards. Edwards leads the nation’s freshmen in scoring at 19.5 points per game. But sometimes eclipsed by his considerable shadow is the fact that Georgia’s recruiting class had a consensus national rank of No. 11 in the 247Sports Composite. In other words, there are a lot of talented freshmen besides.
Bottom line: Successful or not, the Bulldogs are fun to watch.
“That’s how you build a program,” said Crean, who inherited reclamation projects at Marquette and Indiana. “To me, the bottom line is the fans have been fantastic. They’re a driving force of energy. The passion has been contagious and it’s an honor to coach in front of them.”
Saturday’s sold-out game should offer another good show. It will feature two of the top scorers in the league in Edwards and Arkansas junior guard Mason Jones (21.1 ppg). Also worth the price of admission is a now-healthy Razorback Isaiah Joe. The 6-foot-5 sophomore had been out five games with a knee injury, but returned last week and scored 21 and 22 points in the two games since. Arkansas is 1-5 in the games Joe has been out this season.
“They're certainly a different team,” Crean said. “He's back and shooting 12 shots a game, pretty much 75 percent of his shots or more are 3’s. They’re a tough matchup.”
The Razorbacks (18-10, 6-9) certainly will be highly motivated, with postseason implications and SEC Tournament seeding on the line.
As for the product Georgia has been putting on the floor this season, the Bulldogs have been impressive for many stretches this season only to come up short. Notable among such games was Wednesday’s 94-90 overtime loss to South Carolina on the road.
Also, the Bulldogs are 11-4 at “The Steg” this season, perhaps a response to the incredible support they’ve received at home.
“I feel like we can make a run,” senior guard Tyree Crump said. “I feel like we can make a run in the tournament also. I believe in my team.”
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