Crean hires former Tech assistant Dollar, a veteran Atlanta recruiter

ATHENS — Georgia men’s coach Tom Crean has found at least one member of his newstaff, and it is someone who knows the area well: former Georgia Tech assistant Chad Dollar.

Dollar has been hired as an assistant coach at Georgia, the first official hire to Crean’s new staff. UGA confirmed the news first reported by Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I ’ ve respected and admired Chad Dollar for a long time,” Crean said in a statement. “We’re excited to have him at the University of Georgia.”

Dollar gives Creanan experienced and well-regarded recruiter in the Atlanta area. Dollar was on the Georgia Tech staffff with former coach Brian Gregory for fifive seasons. After Gregory was fifired two years ago, Dollar spent the2016-17 season at Auburn, then spent this past season with Gregory at South Florida.

Crean and Gregory are both former assistants at Michigan State under Tom Izzo, so it’s likely that the two discussed Dollar, an Atlanta native who went to Douglass High School. His father Don was a longtime high school coach in the Atlanta area, and his brother Cameron played at UCLA and was later the head coach at Seattle.

Crean will have twomore assistant coach spots to fill. Jonas Hayes remains a candidate to be retained, but a decision on that has not been made.