Former Georgia Tech assistant coach Chad Dollar is coming back to the state to join Georgia coach Tom Crean’s staff, Georgia has confirmed. The hire was first reported by the AJC earlier Wednesday morning.
“I’m excited to be coming back home to Georgia,” Dollar said in a statement. “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 son of renowned Douglass High coach Don Dollar, Chad Dollar was on coach Brian Gregory’s staff at Georgia Tech for five seasons and led the Yellow Jackets’ recruiting in the state of Georgia. He was at USF with Gregory for the past season after having coached the 2016-17 season at Auburn.
At Tech, he led the recruitment of a number of significant in-state players for the Yellow Jackets, including Marcus Georges-Hunt, Robert Carter, Adam Smith and Charles Mitchell. His last may have been his best, guard Josh Okogie, who was an under-the-radar prospect but whom Dollar recognized as a potential replacement for Georges-Hunt. Okogie has flourished into an All-ACC player with coach Josh Pastner.
For Tech, it’s a challenge to its efforts to identify and land in-state, particularly with the February resignation of assistant Darryl LaBarrie, who was Pastner’s primary recruiter in the state of Georgia.
Gregory has close ties with Crean. The two coached together as assistants at Michigan State for Tom Izzo and remain close friends.
