By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

I can’t help but imagine it’s been a while since the UGA basketball fan base has entered a new season with any type of optimism.

I guess you have to back to the Jim Harrick year’s, which is not a time most fans look fondly upon. With the arrival of Tom Crean in March, there is reason for some excitement in Athens.

It’s completely fair to include Crean’s tenure at Indiana when judging his ability to coach, but I wouldn’t look too much into it.

For one, he didn’t do a bad job; Indiana has incredibly high standards that aren’t realistic in relation to their spot in the college basketball hierarchy. It’s kind of like expecting John Travolta to carry a movie because “Phenomenon” was popular over 20 years ago.

Plus, if you’re going to compare program expectations, Georgia is more aligned with Marquette, than Indiana.

At Crean’s two previous stops it has taken a couple years to implement his system with the players he wants, but has turned things around quickly once he was able to do so.

I fully expect him to have the same type of influence on Georgia’s program; unfortunately, that means it’ll be a year or two before fans really start to see everything pay off.

Even with a proven coach like Crean at the helm, this is going to be a difficult year. Their lone double-digit scorer from last year (Magen) is gone, and there isn’t much left over for the new coach to work with.

There are some young talented players coming in, who will be good building blocks 2-3 years down the road and could put up some good numbers, if for no other reason than they’ll have to.

Crean’s main objective this year is similar to that of Hawks head coach, Lloyd Pierce, albeit with a few minor differences.

Most of this upcoming season will be spent implementing his system, seeing who will be able to contribute over the next year or two, and making the Bulldog program as attractive as he can to prospective recruits.

There is a lot of basketball talent in the state that has seemed to have little, to no interest in signing with Georgia. Part of that has to do with the program’s history of mediocrity, but mainly because of their head coaches.

Most recruits today are concerned about their brand and making it to the NBA before they’re able to legally buy a beer. All the Georgia coaches since Harrick haven’t had a proven track record of being able to get players to the next level. When a player has made it, like with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they are looked at as an outlier.

Crean’s notoriety and history with players like Dwayne Wade and Victor Oladipo should help in keeping some of the homegrown talent within the state.

Once that starts to occur, you’ll begin to see the program start to take off. But, like I mentioned earlier, all that is still a couple years away.

So, as the Bulldogs struggle to stay out of the SEC cellar this year- and probably next year- just keep in mind that Crean knows what he’s doing. He’s a good coach and recruiter that I bet will have this team back in the Sweet Sixteen within the next 4-5 years.

For a program that hasn’t tasted that type of success in over 20 years- 22 years, to be extract- it will be well worth the wait.