Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity denied a Yahoo! Sports report published late Monday night that it was exploring options to replace head coach Mark Fox. McGarity released a statement Tuesday morning that read:
"In response to the report by Yahoo! Sports, we are NOT in the process of exploring our options to replace Mark Fox. We look forward to Mark leading our program next year and all our efforts are centered on postseason play. It's unfortunate we need to respond at this time, but it was necessary to quiet these unfounded rumors."
The notion that Fox's job status was, at best, undecided spread wide enough that Kentucky coach John Calipari weighed in after the Wildcats' 82-77 win in Athens, Georgia, on Feb. 18. Calipari noted the close losses Georgia had but that Fox has kept them in a position to win games.
"He keeps his team together; that's coaching," Calipari said. "Not when things are going good. It's when things go south and you lose a bunch in a row, how do you get them and go."
The Bulldogs finished eighth in the SEC with a 9-9 record and are 18-13 overall. They are not widely considered to be a NCAA tournament bubble team according to Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology.
With a team featuring high-scoring Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier, the Bulldogs came into the season with high expectations. A series of close losses turned up the heat on Fox, who also had to deal with losing Maten to a sprained knee three weeks ago.
Despite the setbacks, Georgia did finish the regular season on a bit of a roll, winning five of its last seven games. Fox said Maten could return if the Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament, but the forward's status this week is uncertain.
Fox has guided UGA to the NCAA tournament only twice in his eight seasons, the last being in 2015, and has never advanced past the first round. Georgia opens play Thursday in the SEC tournament against Tennessee. If Georgia wins, it would advance to face top-seeded Kentucky in the quarterfinals.
Fox, who previously coached five years at Nevada, has a record of 144-116 with the Bulldogs, including a 70-68 mark in SEC play.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.