DESTIN, Fla. – Tom Crean joked that there was no special initiation in place for his first trip to this week’s SEC Spring Meetings being held at the SanDestin Hilton.

However, there was apparently a seating chart to adhere to.

“They sat me by John Calipari,” Crean said. “They sat Kermit (Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis) on one side and me on the other side. That must have been the plan.”

Yes, Crean seemed right at home during this week’s event, which for the league’s basketball coaches, wrapped up following their meeting with their respective athletic directors Wednesday afternoon.

“He’s going to be good,” said Calipari. “I’ve known Tom for years, when he was at Indiana and before then, Marquette. I’m happy for him. He has an opportunity because I believe Georgia is a great job. Not a good job, but a great job. It’s got to be one of the top three jobs in the league. I believe so.”

Calipari wasn’t the only coach to speak highly of Crean, who comes to Georgia with a career record of 356-231.

Auburn’s Bruce Pearl said Crean puts Georgia on a different level as far as name recognition goes.

“He’s a star in our profession,” Pearl said. “Tom Crean is a guy that everybody recognizes nationally. He’s not a regional coach. He’s a national figure, and that’s certainly going to bring a lot of attention to the program.”

Both Calipari and Pearl see Crean succeeding at his new job.

Why, do you ask?

“Where it is, the facilities that it has, and the school is unbelievable,” Calipari said. “There’s a range of student athletes you can get. You can get the best and the brightest. They have every major, and the campus is one of those places where the kids are proud to be there. You have Atlanta to recruit to, the South. You have all that.”

Still, Calipari couldn’t resist a friendly dig at his long-time rival, who is 3-1 all-time against the Kentucky coach.

“They’ve redone the facilities except the visitor’s locker room. It still has a piece of wood with hooks in it. That’s our locker room for the visit,” Calipari said. “The only good news is, we don’t have to go in the hall any more to do the media, where you had a gaggle in the hallway as people were walking—excuse me, excuse me. But the facility that they redid is really nice.”

Pearl, famous for his self-promotion at both Tennessee and Auburn, likes that Crean is attempting to do the same in Athens.

“You want to make people part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Pearl said. “Last year we played at Georgia on a Saturday, and it was almost sold out; they’ve made some improvements to Stegeman Coliseum and it’s a tough place to play. I think Tom is going to bring some energy and excitement, and engage the student body.”

Crean apparently wasn’t shy during Wednesday’s meetings, either, speaking up and offering opinions on several of the day’s main topics.

“I don’t know if I took it over, but you definitely want to have an opinion and add where you can,” he said. “I think it was fantastic.”