About that contract situation, that’s going to have to wait.
That was the word from Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox, who made his first extensive comments on the situation Friday shortly before the Bulldogs departed for Starkville and Saturday’s 3 p.m. game versus Mississippi State.
As reported last week by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox has yet to sign the two-year contract extension that was approved for him this past spring. However, as Georgia (12-5, 3-2) seeks its 13th victory of the season, Fox insists there are no serious issues between him and the athletic association.
It is, he said, simply a matter of timing.
“There were some personnel changes in the department and my people never got anything in hand until we started playing,” Fox said. “And I’m not going to deal with that right now; I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t think it’s fair to my team to have to try to deal with that. Now with somebody else dealing with it the wheels move slower. But that’s kind of why that’s not done.”
UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity announced in April that the school extended Fox's contract two years through the 2018 season. There was no mention of a pay raise in the deal, which came shortly after the Bulldogs' season ended with a second-round loss to Louisiana Tech in the NIT. Fox's currently earns $1.7 million a year as Georgia's coach.
But specifics of the proposed agreement, such as buyout clauses or termination penalties, were never revealed because the deal was never finalized. Frank Crumley, the athletic association’s chief financial officer, resigned in September after an investigation into an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate concluded.
Again, Fox insisted contract terms are not a hang-up.
“My rep obviously called me the other day and said, ‘can we talk about this?’ I said, ‘no, I’m not going to talk about this right now. I’ve got to worry about my team,’” Fox said Friday. “That’s what my team deserves. So hopefully it will get done soon. But it will happen after everything is done with my team.”
Fox is in his sixth season as the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball coach. They’re 97-82 in that span and 43-46 in SEC play. Georgia has made one appearance in the NCAA Tournament during Fox’s tenure. Something that McGarity has emphasized is the annual expectation of the men’s basketball program.
The Bulldogs appear to have their best team since the 2011-12 squad made the NCAA’s 65-team field. They will attempt to win their fourth game in a row Saturday when they face Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum.
Georgia will be favored to win Saturday, but Mississippi State (9-9, 2-3) represents another hazardous opponent in the refurbished SEC. State has snapped two streaks of infamy in the last week, knocking off Vanderbilt 57-54 on Jan. 17 to win a conference game for the first time in 16 contests. And Wednesday it defeated Auburn 78-71 to end a 22-game road losing streak. Forward Gavin Ware scored 16 points and added a season-high 17 rebounds, and guard I.J. Ready scored 18 points against Auburn.
“They’re finally getting healthy and in their rhythm and playing well,” Fox observed. “Obviously, they’re playing their best basketball right now and it’s a road game, so we’ll have to get geared up.”
Georgia again will play short-handed. Starting guard Juwan Parker remains sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury, and his backup, Kenny Paul Geno, is out with a fractured wrist. As they have during this two-week long debacle, the Bulldogs will move Charles Mann to Parker’s wing position and start J.J. Frazier at Mann’s regular point-guard position.
That has proved to be a winning formula.
“Chuck is a scoring guard; he’s aggressive,” said Frazier, who has averaged 11 points, 4.6 assists and one turnover in the past three games. “So when we can have one of our better scorers on one wing and another good scorer in Kenny (Gaines) on the other one, we’re a dangerous team.”
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