Mark Fox doubled down on his original response about his job security after the Georgia Bulldogs' loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday.
He said before the SEC Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri that he was just focused on putting his team in a good position to make a run and had not given it much thought.
The Bulldogs won two games in the conference tournament-- their win against Mizzou an upset-- but in the quarterfinals ran out of gas against a Wildcats team on fresh legs and defended Yante Maten exceptionally well.
When asked about his job security with an invitation to the NIT tournament looming, Fox again acted like he really had not thought about whether he'll still have his job in just a matter of hours.
"My entire focus-- as I said before the tournament-- is on trying to get these kids some wins, and trying to make sure they have the most incredible season they can have. We felt like we can come into the tournament and win it, and we knew that fatigue would eventually be something we would have to overcome. We've been 100 percent focused on that. Solely that. I haven't really thought much about the rest of it," he said.
When pressed about whether or not he had conversations with Athletic Director Greg McGarity about his job, he presumed those discussions were on the horizon.
"I'm sure that Greg and I will meet at some point and have conversations on how to continue and grow our program. I'm not sure when those conversations will occur. We'll let you know."
Fox has been the head coach of the Bulldogs for nine seasons. He has led the Bulldogs to only two NCAA Tournament appearances. In neither of those appearances did the Bulldogs make it out of the first round.
It's been consistent inconsistency from Fox's teams despite talented rosters. This year was no different, finishing with a regular season record of 18-15 while having the AP SEC Player of the Year and conference's leading scorer, Yante Maten.
The Bulldogs looked as if things were starting to click in the last two games. The young guys were scoring more and fighting hard for the ball. But three consecutive games in three consecutive days is a lot, especially when you'd have to win two more just to make it to the tournament. The fatigue is real.
"That's what you have coming into this tournament. You get to rest a little longer," Juwan Parker said. "But fatigue definitely isn't an excuse. We both lace our shoes up and come ready to play."
Kentucky head coach John Calipari was complementary of Fox and his team after the game, pointing out how a few unlucky finishes at the end of the season cost them greatly.
"You know, at the end of the year, they have Texas A&M, and they lose it with 50 seconds to go. They have Tennessee on the road beat, played Tennessee in that building better than anybody played them in the last two months, and they got beat with 50 seconds to go. It was kind of crazy how they got beat.
"And then I made a statement that they could make a run. And I told Mark before, you know what, if you beat us, I'd be happy for you and then go win this whole thing because the job -- and those two young kids, [Teshaun Hightower and Nicolas Claxton], are going to be two of our best players in this league as we keep going forward."
Fox appreciated the sentiments.
"I think the camaraderie amongst coaches in the league, there's terrific coaches in this conference. I think there's a lot of mutual respect for how guys coach the game. I think everybody has a real high respect for each other because the jobs are hard, the league is great, and it's a challenging time in college hoops," Fox said.
