throw him a bone

After I've had a little time to settle down, I've decided to give Damon Evans (above, left) the benefit of the doubt in his hiring of Mark Fox. Evans is, after all, the Athletics Director at a major university and I'm only ... well, I'm only some guy who likes to think he might know something, but in reality is guessing just like everyone else.

Evans gets paid to make these decisions. I pay to watch his decisions play out on the court.

Initially, I told friends here that it seems to me Georgia was going after an "established" winner from a major basketball power, and we ended up with some schmoe from Nevada who nobody's ever heard of. Who the heck is Mark Fox? (Seriously, I can barely remember if his name is Mike or Mark...)

And while his 123-43 record is pretty impressive, you've got to remember that it came at Nevada, a far cry from the SEC (well, maybe not so far after how poor the Southeastern Conference played this season...).

He did take his team to the Dance three out of five years and has five straight 20-win seasons.

But the big question is, how will that transfer to Georgia, where he's competing with Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee in conference, plus Georgia Tech, Clemson and many others for recruits?

My initial thoughts: It won't transfer. We'll be doing the same search four years down the road.

Part of me wished we kept Jim Harrick and just swept the infamous test scandal and the Tony Cole saga under the rug.

But I've got a new-found hope in my boy Damon Evans. I'm gonna give him credit for what I hope turns out to be a smart and savvy hire, because all signs point to that being exactly what Evans thinks he's done.

He gave Fox a six-year deal with a $2-million buyout - neither commonly done to coaches you expect to be mediocre at best. His deal totals near $8 million, and he gets 75% of that if he's fired without cause. Again, Evans has high expectations that Fox will be around for a while.

The man has interviewed with Cal and Nebraska in the recent past - as in, he's been on the radar screen for big opportunities for a while now. Thankfully (I hope), Georgia got him before someone else did.

He's noted as a workaholic, constantly learning and preparing, expecting his teams to win.

He might not be Anthony Grant (Alabama's new coach via VCU) or Mike Anderson (who re-upped with Mizzou) or Tubby Smith (the one time UGA coach, national title winner with Kentucky and now with Minnesota), but the biggest difference between those three guys and Mark Fox is opportunity. They've had it on a big stage, he hasn't.

Now he's got it.

So, Damon Evans, this is me trusting you. Hope you made the right call.