Georgia basketball loses top recruiter Chad Dollar

Chad Dollar, an Atlanta native and SEC coaching veteran, is leaving the Bulldogs to accept a position on the staff at Cincinnati under new head coach Wes Miller, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed. Dollar is credited for helping Georgia coach Tom Crean penetrate the complicated Atlanta AAU circuit for top recruits, including 2020 No. 1 NBA Draft pick Anthony Edwards.

The Dollars are known as one of the first families of Atlanta basketball. Dollar’s father, longtime Douglass High coach Don Dollar, was one of the pioneers of the AAU basketball movement in the city. Chad’s brother, Cameron, was a top prospect who won a national championship at UCLA in 1995 and is now an NBA assistant coach.

Meanwhile, Georgia finds itself in the throes of yet another rebuild heading into Crean’s fourth season. The Bulldogs have had five players from the 2020-21 team enter the transfer portal, including starters Sahvir Wheeler, Toumani Camara and Tye Fagan. So far, Georgia has replaced them with four transfers (and the Bulldogs have three signees so far in the 2021 recruiting class in 3-star prospects Tyrone Baker, Camron McDowell and Christian Wright.

Georgia played Cincinnati this past season and beat the Bearcats 83-68 Dec. 19 in Athens. That team was coached John Brannen, who was fired earlier this month amid an internal investigation. Miller was hired from UNC-Greensboro as Brannen’s replacement two weeks ago.