Dave Sez

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

In 1993, Bobby Cremins, the charismatic coach of Georgia Tech shocked the sports world when he announced that he was leaving to take the head coaching job at South Carolina, his alma mater. It was a huge hire for the Gamecocks and a crushing blow for Georgia Tech. And then it wasn't. Cremins quickly came to regret his decision and managed to successfully call a "do over" and stayed in Atlanta.

A few weeks ago, Winthrop's hot young coach Gregg Marshall pulled a very similar trick with the College of Charleston. He accepted the job, attended a press conference and then changed his mind. It quickly called Cremins' move to mind. Even Cremins himself was quoted as saying that Marshall had "pulled a Bobby Cremins."

So who did Charleston look to to soothe their "Creminsed" pain? The man himself. They hired Bobby Cremins to take the place of a "Bobby Cremins."

You couldn't make that up.

As to the hire itself, I'm of two minds. On the one hand, CofC got themselves a Grade A coaching name. Schools like that just don't hire guys like Cremins too often. I mean, that guy won the ACC several times, took his famous Lethal Weapon 3 team to the Final Four and recruited numerous NBA talents. On the other hand, I was never convinced that Cremins was really a good coach. He was a great recruiter - at least at landing stars - but not a great coach. But he's not going to land any Mark Prices or Stephon Marburys at Charleston. Can he compete there with his tight 7-man rotation and heavy reliance on superior point guard talent? I don't know. I have a hunch it's not going to work out.

But it's still a hell of a story.

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Posted by Dave at July 10, 2006 05:54 PM | TrackBack