Georgia’s Stacey Palmore will not be retained as a men’s basketball assistant coach, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has confirmed.
“Stacey did a good job and is a first-class guy,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said Thursday. “He’s looking for an opportunity to spend some more time with his son (Jaden, 7). And change sometimes is good for everybody.”
Fox characterized the decision as “mutual.”
Palmore, 45, has been with Fox since he came to Athens in 2009. A native of Greenwood, S.C., Palmore came to Georgia from Virginia Tech, where he had been the previous five seasons. He was one of the Bulldogs’ primary recruiters of metro Atlanta.
Palmore recently interviewed and was a finalist for the head coaching job at Tennessee State. That job went to Illinois State assistant Dana Ford earlier this week. Palmore also has coached at College of Charleston, Evansville, Western Carolina and Erskine and Lander in a career that has spanned 21 years.
Like all of Georgia’s assistant basketball coaches, Palmore was working under a one-year, renewable contract. Reached by telephone Thursday, Palmore declined comment about the impending change. But he issued a statement through UGA.
“I’d like to thank Coach Fox for giving me the opportunity to represent Georgia for the past five years,” Palmore said. “I believe that we accomplished a lot of great things in those five seasons. However, I felt that now was the right time to pursue other opportunities in my career and to be able to spend more time with my young son.”
Though the Bulldogs started five Georgians this past season, the program has been criticized in recent years for not winning enough of the recruiting wars for the state’s best players. The top-rated players in Georgia this past year – Ahmed Hill and Jakeenan Gant – signed with Marquette and Missouri, respectively. Virginia sophomores Malcolm Brogdon and Evan Nolte are also from Atlanta and Nolte’s older brother actually played for the Bulldogs.
“That job probably deserves combat pay,” Fox said of being a recruiting assistant. “Stacey represented Georgia in a first-class way and we wish him the best.”
Fox, who was on the road recruiting for eight straight days, said he does not have imminent plans for hiring a replacement. The Bulldogs currently has two other full-time assistants in Philip Pearson and Jonas Hayes. Kent Davison is director of operations and Byron Samuels is operations coordinator.
Earlier this month, Georgia extended Fox’s $1.7 million contract two years to give him four years total. He has been with the Bulldogs for five years and has an overall record of 85-77 (40-44 SEC).
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