Ok, the press conference just finished and here are my initial thoughts….

Pete Hermann will take over as the interim coach. He was David Robinson’s coach at Navy and brings a lot of experience to the job. He has no chance to keep the job beyond this season.

Damon Evans didn’t give specifics on why Felton was fired, but mentioned a few interesting things:

1. He wants the new coach to "embrace the academics of the institution" and become the "CEO of the basketball program." I would assume this means wasn’t happy with Felton on these points. In the SEC, you do have to be involved in every aspect – it’s more about coaching at that level. CEO is a great analogy – it’s not just about the X’s and O’s – you have to have your hands in everything that goes on with the program.

2. Evans talked about the $30 million dollar facility and the high quality HS and AAU players in the state of Georgia. Obviously he wants the new coach to do a better job of getting the high-major in-state talent to UGA. They have the facilities (according to Evans), they just need the players.

3. He mentioned Tubby Smith as having gotten it done at Georgia. Would he consider coming back? My guess is that they will reach out to him. A search firm will be hired to help with the search.

Good luck to Coach Felton. He’s a class guy and we hope he lands on his feet.

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