Evans: Felton firing was culmination of events

Athens — Damon Evans has a lofty vision for Georgia basketball. He said Thursday it includes winning “conference championships and national championships.”

“Our commitment and my commitment to build Georgia basketball is strong,” said the Bulldogs’ athletics director. “And when I say that, I’d say very strong.”

Evans made the statement at a press conference Thursday to announce the dismissal of men’s head coach Dennis Felton. The announcement came less than 12 hours after Georgia lost to Florida 83-57 in Gainesville on Wednesday night.

That defeat was the Bulldogs’ seventh in a row, kept them winless in the conference at 0-5 and dropped them to 9-11 overall.

More importantly, it dropped Felton to 84-91 in five years as Georgia’s coach and 26-59 in SEC play. Despite winning the SEC tournament in Atlanta last March, Evans had seen enough.

The plane bringing the team back from Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday touched down in Athens shortly after midnight. By 7 a.m. Thursday morning, Felton had been fired.

“I was hoping that we’d build upon the success that we had in the SEC tournament,” said Evans, referring to the Bulldogs’ tornado-interrupted championship run last March in Atlanta. “That’s what all the Georgia fans wanted; that’s what we wanted; that’s what Dennis wanted. We thought it would be a momentum-builder for us. To be where we are today is disappointing.”

Felton did not attend Thursday’s press conference and did not return repeated phone calls and text messages seeking comment. His wife, Melanie, answered the door at their house in Bogart. She said Felton was “not available” and declined comment herself.

Felton did issue a statement Thursday afternoon through his agent:

“While working to rebuild the Georgia program, it was exciting to make it back to postseason play three times and I’ll never forget the thrill of winning the SEC championship last year and playing in the NCAA Tournament. I’m really proud of the way our players represented themselves and the university on and off the court. A top priority for us was that our guys perform academically. I’m glad to note our players are achieving great strides in the classroom and are earning and/or progressing toward degrees at a pace that puts the program in an elite class. This marks a big turnaround for Georgia basketball.”

Georgia will continue to pay Felton through the end of his contract, which expires June 30, 2011. He is owed approximately $1.55 million.

Felton will be replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach Pete Herrmann. Georgia plays at Alabama (12-7, 2-3) on Saturday. Mark Gottfried resigned as the Crimson Tide’s coach on Monday.

Herrmann said his plan was “to get our kids together this afternoon and try to get them ready to play in 48 hours. That’s the main focus as a staff.”

That’s not going to be easy. Georgia’s players were taking the news hard.

“Tough is the word I’d use,” sophomore point guard Zac Swansey said before Thursday afternoon’s practice. “It’s been tough all year. We haven’t been able to put it all together. We lost however many games in a row, then this happens. As players we have to continue to fight. You don’t have a choice but to put everything aside.”

Said captain Terrance Woodbury: “I don’t know [how they’ll respond]. I’ve never been in this situation so I’m not sure. Coach Felton and Coach Herrmann are almost one in the same so I don’t think we’ll be asked to do anything different.”

Evans said he believes the university has the resources and the state of Georgia has the talent pool to produce an elite basketball program “year-in and year-out.” And he indicated they would spare no expense in locating the next coach.

“[Basketball is] not a red-headed stepchild here,” said Evans, noting that the press conference was being held in a $30 million practice facility. “This building was built for a reason. We wanted to make a commitment to our basketball programs. I’m going to go out and get the best possible coach we can get. And I’m not going to let anything hold us back from doing that.”