Georgia Basketball Coaching Staff

Last Game

Tennessee
Mar 3, 2021
Knoxville, TN
Tom Crean

Tom Crean

Head Coach

Tom Crean, who for nearly two decades has regularly led his basketball teams to national rankings and postseason bids, was named the Georgia Bulldogs' 22nd head coach on March 15, 2018.

"Tom Crean is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball over the past two decades," Greg McGarity, UGA's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics, said. "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. I'm extremely excited to have him leading Georgia Basketball into the future and to welcome his family into the Bulldog Nation."

"I am honored an humbled to join the University of Georgia family," Crean said. "I am sincerely grateful to President Morehead and Greg McGarity for an incredible opportunity. 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. We're going to need everyone in the Bulldog Nation to help us to create the energy and excitement that will take Georgia to the highest levels of success."

Crean compiled a 356-231 record in 18 seasons at Marquette and Indiana from 1999-2017. His teams have reached postseason play during 13 of those campaigns, with nine NCAA appearances and four NIT bids. Crean led Marquette to the 2003 NCAA Final Four and has reached four Sweet 16s at Marquette and Indiana. All told, Crean's teams have been ranked in the Associated Press and/or USA Today polls during 12 seasons, including top-10 finishes in 2003, 2013 and 2016.

Individually, Crean has coached eight players who have won All-America honors. All 52 seniors to play for Crean during his head coaching career have earned a degree.

Most recently at Indiana, Crean inherited a program with only one returning player, pending NCAA probation and scholarship restrictions due to poor academic performances. He compiled a 166-135 record from 2008-17. Indiana was 28-66 in his first three seasons before compiling a 138-69 mark in his final six years in Bloomington, including a pair of outright Big Ten Championships in 2013 and 2016. Indiana was ranked in each of those last six campaigns, including 11 weeks at No. 1 during 2012-13. Crean was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016, the same season he was a finalist for Naismith National Coach of the Year honors. Three Hoosiers earned All-America honors under Crean - Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell (2016), Cody Zeller (2013) and Victor Oladipo (2013).

Crean inherited a program faced with reduced scholarships due to a deficient APR score. Four years later, the Hoosiers sported a perfect score of 1000 and maintained that mark for four years.

Crean served as head coach at Marquette from 1999-2008, leading the program to the 2003 Final Four and four more NCAA bids. Marquette also participated in three NITs under Crean and reached the 2004 quarterfinals. Marquette obtained AP top-25 rankings during six of Crean's last seven seasons in Milwaukee, including final rankings of No. 9 in 2003, No. 12 in 2002, No. 20 in 2007 and No. 25 in 2008.

Crean was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in both 2002 and 2003, with Dwayne Wade earning Player of the Year honors in 2003 as well. Three Marquette players earned All-America accolades under Crean - Wade (2002 & 2003), Travis Diener (2005) and Dominic James (2007). After Crean departed for Indiana, two of his Marquette players later earned All-America honors - Jerel McNeal in 2009 and Lazar Hayward in 2010.

Crean's winning ways were well established before he became a head coach. In 10 seasons from 1989-99, Crean was a member of the staffs at Michigan State, Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh. Those squads combined to win four regular-season and two conference tournament titles. They also reached postseason play eight times (five NCAAs and three NITs). The season before assuming the reigns at Marquette, Crean helped Michigan State to a 33-5 finish and the Final Four in 1999.

A native of Mount Pleasant, Mich., Crean graduated from Central Michigan in 1989. Crean is married to the former Joani Harbaugh, and they have three children - Megan (22), Riley (18) and Ainsley (12).

Chad Dollar

Chad Dollar

Assistant Coach

Chad Dollar, an Atlanta native with more than two decades of college coaching experience, has been named an assistant coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, head coach Tom Crean announced on Wednesday.

"I've respected and admired Chad Dollar for a long time," Crean said. "His coaching tree started in his own home and has progressed through his career with many great experiences. We're excited to add Chad's ability to lead young people and to teach the game and also the life skills that will serve them well. He brings a tenacity, not only to the court but to the recruiting trail and has helped recruit, mold and develop some outstanding players over his career. We're excited to have him at the University of Georgia."

Dollar comes to Georgia after spending last season on the staff at South Florida, where HE played during the 1990s. Dollar's résumé includes stints within the SEC at LSU and Auburn.

"I'm excited to be coming back home to Georgia," Dollar said. "I'm also excited to have the opportunity to work with Coach Crean, who I feel like is one of the best coaches in the country."

The Dollar name is a familiar one within Georgia basketball circles. Chad's father, Don, won more than 650 games and three state titles as a high school coach, primarily at Frederick Douglass High in Atlanta. Chad was an all-city performer in 1989 and a second-team all-state honoree in 1990. He and six of his Douglass High teammates went on to sign Division I scholarships.

"It's a unbelievable situation for me, and I think it will be a rewarding experience," Dollar said. "I'm looking forward to seeing my family on a regular basis and high school teammates and guys I competed against growing up and high school and AAU coaches who I know both from when I was playing and my career as a college coach."

Dollar spent the 2016-17 season at Auburn, where the Tigers tallied their most wins (18) since 2008-09, and the the five seasons prior to that (2011-16) at Georgia Tech. Dollar was an assistant coach for his first three seasons with the Yellow Jackets before spending the final two as associate head coach.

Dollar was on the staff at Wichita State for the 2010-11 campaign when the Shockers won the NIT and finished 29-8. He spent three seasons as an assistant coach under John Brady, two at Arkansas State (2008-10) and one at LSU (2007-08). Dollar also coached at Murray State (2006-07), Georgia Southern (2002-06), Eastern Kentucky (2000-02) and Western Carolina (1998-2000).

Dollar began his coaching career at Gardner-Webb, serving as a volunteer assistant for one season and a graduate assistant for another. He then moved to the staff at Southern Miss for the 1996-97 season when the Golden Eagles finished 22-11 and reached the NIT.

Dollar also spent two summers coaching with Athletes in Action, assisting with selection of players and conducting of the team's training camps. In 1997, Dollar traveled with AIA to Macedonia and Croatia, while in 2001 he ventured to the Ivory Coast.

Dollar was a three-year letterwinner at South Florida from 1990-93, including teams that reached the 1991 NIT and the 1992 NCAA Tournament. He completed his collegiate playing career at Milligan College (Tenn.). Dollar distributed a what was then school-record 194 assists during the 1994-95 season while helping lead the Buffaloes to a 24-12 finish and their first-ever appearance in the NAIA Tournament. Dollar earned his bachelor's degree in Sociology from Milligan in 1996.

Dollar's younger brother, Cameron, played at UCLA and helped the Bruins to the 1995 NCAA Championship. He is currently an assistant coach at the University of Washington.

 
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