Georgia hires Tom Crean to be next men's basketball coach

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY

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Tom Crean is the new head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs men's basketball team.

The school announced the hire of the former Indiana and Marquette coach on Thursday night.

"Tom Crean is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball over the past two decades. His teams have consistently been participants in postseason play, and his players have been extremely successful in the classroom. He's going to be a great fit for the University of Georgia," athletics director Greg McGarity said in a statement released by the school.

"I am honored an humbled to join the University of Georgia family," Crean said in the statement.

"Make no mistake, this is a basketball program inside of a great university that can compete for championships doing it the right way. We will work diligently and with great energy to make everyone associated with the University of Georgia very proud of our efforts."

In the wake of being turned down publicly by Thad Matta on Wednesday, Georgia had turned its attention to Crean, a person with knowledge of the discussions told USA TODAY Sports earlier Thursday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the search process is supposed to be private.

Earlier Thursday, USA TODAY Sports reported that there was mutual interest between Crean and the Bulldogs, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

There was urgency on the part of Georgia to make its pitch to Crean quickly and strongly, as Crean also was considered a candidate at Pittsburgh and UConn.

Crean was 356–231 in 18 seasons at Marquette and Indiana.