Georgia Releases Statement Responding to Reports About Tom Crean’s Job Status

On Friday, reports said that Crean was allegedly under review for breach of contract.

Georgia released a statement on Saturday morning following reports that the school is looking into firing men‘s basketball coach Tom Crean for breach of contract after supposedly failing to report a physical altercation between two staffers.

In the statement, Georgia denied that the incident was reported improperly and revealed that the situation is now under review.

“There have been various media reports related to UGA Athletics personnel ranging from completely inaccurate to incomplete and premature,” the school said in a release, per The Athletic‘s Seth Emerson. “The incident in question was reported properly as required by university policies and is under review. We will comment if and when appropriate.

Georgia has released a statement on this situation: pic.twitter.com/NUChnUBKIR

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) February 19, 2022

On Friday night, Graham Coffey of Dawg Sports reported that Georgia was conducting a breach of contract review after Crean failed to properly inform the university of a physical altercation between assistant coach Wade Mason and director of player personnel Brian Fish. The incident at the center of the supposed review allegedly took place during halftime of Wednesday’s game between Georgia and LSU.

According to the report, the incident was reported to university human resources officials by someone other than Crean, meaning that he would be in violation of his contract.

Crean is owed a buyout of $3.6 million, but that amount drops to $3.2 million in three weeks. If he is fired for cause, the school would not have to pay the buyout.

Essentially, nothing has changed. Georgia isn't trying to fire Crean immediately. To me, it doesn't make sense to bother with the lawyers when the buyout goes down to $3.2 million in three weeks, unless they're also trying to get out of that. And I don't think they are. https://t.co/rYhepSZf4s

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) February 19, 2022

Georgia has struggled this season and is currently 6–20 overall and 1–12 in SEC play. Crean is 47–69 overall since taking over the program before the 2018 season.

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