Report: Tom Crean to retain Georgia basketball assistant Jonas Hayes

Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean reportedly has added his first assistant coach to his staff, and it’s one that is sure to please the Bulldogs community.

According to a report from 247Sports‘ Evan Daniels, Crean will retain Jonas Hayes, who was an assistant on Mark Fox’s staff.

Hayes is regarded as an excellent recruiter, and he played a key role in landing a number of Georgia’s top players in recent years, including Yante Maten. Hayes has accompanied Crean on trips to visit recruits such as 5-star EJ Montgomery.

Hayes was instrumental in landing a commitment from 5-star point guard Ashton Hagans, but he de-committed from Georgia amid the uncertainty surrounding the job security of former coach Mark Fox. Hagans is the No. 1 point guard in the 2019 class and has gotten offers from Kentucky and Louisville in the last week. He is also a candidate to reclassify and join the 2018 class.

“That’s it, yes. Fox and [assistant coach Jonas] Hayes did a great job recruiting Ashton. Nothing more, nothing less,” Hagans’ AAU coach Chris Williams said at the time of Hagans’ de-commitment.

Georgia’s 2018 recruiting class currently consists of 4-star prospect Amanze Ngumezi and 3-star prospect JoJo Toppin. Georgia also lost a commitment from 2019 4-star recruit Elias King after the school parted ways with Fox.

Hayes was on Fox’s staff for the last five seasons and played at Georgia from 2001-04.

Crean replaced Fox after the latter spent nine seasons at Georgia. Crean previously has coached at Marquette and Indiana. He took Indiana to three Sweet 16 appearances and led Marquette to a Final Four.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: Sources have told DawgNation’s Seth Emerson that the reports of Georgia keeping Hayes are premature, read more here.