Even though Mark Fox added Philip Pearson to the Georgia staff a month ago, there’s still been one vacancy on the Georgia bench.

According to the Roanoke Times, Fox has filled that vacancy with Virginia Tech assistant Stacey Palmore. The interesting part of the story is that Palmore didn’t pursue the job; Fox targeted him.

If you want to know why Fox picked Palmore, this quote from Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg should do it: “Stacey Palmore has become one of the premier recruiters in the ACC.” Palmore, a native of South Carolina, becomes the staff’s second proven and experienced recruiter with strong ties to the southeast. He’s a 1993 graduate of Livingstone (N.C.) College.

In addition to being the top recruiter on the Va. Tech staff, Palmore was also responsible for coaching the post position. There’s no guarantee of course that he’ll have the same duties at Georgia. The Bulldog staff now looks like this:

Head Coach: Mark Fox
Assistant: Kwanza Johnson
Assistant: Philip Pearson
Assistant: Stacey Palmore

Palmore’s bio states that he coached at Western Carolina in 2000, but that was after the coaching change and shakeup that ended with Jonas and Jarvis Hayes transferring to Georgia. He’s been in Blacksburg since 2004, and it’s impressive that Fox was able to convince a stable and established assistant from an ACC school who wasn’t looking to leave to take a chance on a new guy just starting out in the SEC. But working in the talent-rich state of Georgia (not to mention the proximity to his hometown) has to be attractive to someone who’s made his mark as a recruiter.

Speaking of Palmore and recruiting the Atlanta area, there are also rumblings tonight that Virginia Tech wing Terrell Bell is looking at joining Palmore in Athens. Bell is a native of Stone Mountain, Ga. and was recruited by Palmore as part of the 2007 class. Georgia’s need at wing is immediate, but Bell would have to sit out a year. That might not be a bad thing, though – he’s only been a 2.1 PPG guy in two years with the Hokies.

Stacey Palmore