Can Crean get Ashton Hagans back in the fold at Georgia?

Ashton Hagans, the No. 6 player in the 2019 class, committed to Georgia back in December, but decided to open up his recruitment at the end of February when it started to appear that Mark Fox’s job was in jeopardy.

Georgia fired Fox one week ago and moved quickly to name Tom Crean the new head coach. As it turns out, Crean and Hagans already have a relationship going back to last summer.

“I like his coaching style,” Hagans said. “He coached us last summer at Adidas Nations. I liked his style. He was putting us through drills. He said I have everything else, but just needed to get my jump shot better. He was teaching us how to create space and worked with us on pick and rolls.”

Crean wasted no time getting in touch with the five-star point guard upon taking the job at Georgia.

“He’s said he loves my game and wants to get real close to my family,” Hagans said. “He said I was the first one he called. He called as soon as he got the job. He was saying how he wants to let me play my game and keep helping me with my jump shot.”

Georgia assistant coach Jonas Hayes played a big role in getting Hagans to commit to the Bulldogs the first time around. It’s still up in the air whether Hayes will stay on board as a member of Crean’s new staff, but he’s stayed in contact with Hagans throughout the transition.

“He’s been saying how much love he has for me,” Hagans said. “We still talk all the time.”

Since opening up, Hagans has been as hot a commodity as you would expect. He mentioned Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Marquette, NC State, Ohio State and South Carolina as some of the schools he’s been in touch with lately.

“I’m back at square one with the process,” Hagans said. “I like everybody right now. I’m going to base it on the relationship I have with the coaches. I’m just going to play out the summer and see how things go.”