Bobby Cremins
Encyclopedia
Bobby Cremins is an American college basketball
coach and the current head coach
of the College of Charleston
's men's basketball team, and former head coach
at Appalachian State
and Georgia Tech
.
in the Bronx, New York
, where he was born to Irish immigrants. In 1966, he entered the University of South Carolina
on a basketball scholarship, where he played under the legendary basketball coach Frank McGuire
. While Cremins was there, the South Carolina team won 61 games, with only 17 losses, while Cremins was the starting point guard
for three years for the Gamecocks. Cremins, known affectionately as "Cakes", was also the captain of South Carolina's powerful 1969–70 team which went 25-3. He graduated from South Carolina in 1970 with a B.S.
degree in marketing
, before playing professional basketball for one year in Ecuador
.
. He next returned to South Carolina to become McGuire's assistant coach and to earn a M.S.
degree in guidance and counseling in 1972.
At age 27, Cremins became one of the youngest NCAA Division I head coaches in history when he took charge of the Appalachian State University
's basketball team. In his first year at Appalachian his team had a record of 13–14, but then they accumulated an 87–56 record over the next five seasons, with three Southern Conference
championships. The Mountaineers posted a 23–6 record, and received an NCAA Tournament slot in 1979. Cremins's performance at Appalachian State gathered him some national attention in the NCAA coaching ranks, including catching the eye of the Georgia Tech athletic director
. Cremins was hired as the Rambling Wreck's new head basketball coach at the close of the 1981 season, on April 14, 1981.
(ACC) Georgia Tech team that had been winless in the conference and had compiled a four wins and 23 losses record in the basketball season before his arrival. His team progressed to the ACC Basketball Tournament championship in 1985, and they amassed a record of 27 wins with eight losses. In 1990, Cremins's team progressed all the way to the Final Four
in the NCAA Tournament, with an overall 28–7 record.
Cremins was three-times the ACC "Coach of the Year": In 1983 with the first ever Yellow Jackets' ACC tournament victory, and an overall 13–15 won/loss record; again in 1985, and again in 1996 when his team posted a 24–12 record, won the ACC regular-season championship with a 13–3 record, and progressed to the NCAA Basketball Tournament
's "Sweet 16". Cremins' coaching of the 1990 Yellow Jackets' team earned him the Naismith College Coach of the Year
honor.
Cremins next decided to retire from basketball coaching with an overall 25-year coaching record of 452–303 (60 percent wins), and with a Georgia Tech coaching record, in 19 seasons, of 352–233 (also 60% wins).
Cremins had a host of players that went on to have successful National Basketball Association
(NBA) careers. First there was Mark Price
(the Cleveland Cavaliers
) and John Salley
(the Detroit Pistons
) in the early 1980s, then Duane Ferrell
, Tom Hammonds
, Dennis Scott
, Brian Oliver
, Kenny Anderson
, Jon Barry
, Travis Best
, Stephon Marbury
, Jason Collier
and Matt Harpring
.
Cremins was also an assistant coach on the first-ever gold-medal-winning American World University Games team in 1986, assisting the head coach. Lute Olson
of the University of Arizona
. Cremins also assisted Olson at the 1986 FIBA World Championship
, also winning the gold medal there. During the summer of 1989 he coached the American team that qualified for the World Championships in 1990.
Cremins also assisted the former National Basketball Association
coach Lenny Wilkens
in the American basketball team's appearance in the Summer Olympic Games of 1996
in Atlanta. This team was the second of the "Dream Teams" in the Olympic Games, and it featured such NBA stars as Charles Barkley
, Karl Malone
, Reggie Miller
, Shaquille O'Neil, Scottie Pippen
, David Robinson
and John Stockton
, several of whom were returning for their second Olympic Games basketball tournament. This "Dream Team" was undefeated in the Olympic basketball tournament, of course, and it defeated the second-place Yugoslavian team 95–69 in the championship game in winning the gold medal.
On March 24, 1993, Cremins agreed to coach basketball at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina
, before changing his mind and deciding three days later to continue at Georgia Tech. In 2003, Georgia Tech officially named the basketball court at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum
on the Georgia Tech campus, the "Cremins Court". Paul Hewitt
would take his place at Georgia Tech in 2000.
, did television
commentary
on ACC and NCAA basketball, and worked with charities, mainly for Coaches vs. Cancer and the Jimmy V Foundation. Cremins also raised money for a five-to-six week summer program, half of which include disadvantaged children, the Hilton Head Basketball Camp 101.
In 2006, Cremins returned to coaching at the College of Charleston
, hoping to restore the basketball program there to the status of a significant team in college basketball that it experienced under coach John Kresse
from 1980 to 2002.
.
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
coach and the current head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the College of Charleston
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...
's men's basketball team, and former head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
at Appalachian State
Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball
The Appalachian State Mountaineers basketball team is the college basketball team at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The Mountaineers have competed in the Southern Conference since 1972, and are currently a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ....
and Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team represents the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in NCAA Division I basketball. The team plays its home games in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Under the tenure of Bobby Cremins, Georgia Tech established itself as a national force in basketball...
.
Early years
Cremins attended the All Hallows High SchoolAll Hallows High School
All Hallows High School is a Catholic boys' high school in The Bronx, New York, United States. Located near Yankee Stadium, at 111 East 164th Street, the school has an enrollment of approximately 650 boys, 98% of whom are men of color. Despite sitting in the poorest Congressional district in the...
in the Bronx, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he was born to Irish immigrants. In 1966, he entered the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
on a basketball scholarship, where he played under the legendary basketball coach Frank McGuire
Frank McGuire
Frank Joseph McGuire was an American athletic coach who gained his greatest renown in collegiate basketball....
. While Cremins was there, the South Carolina team won 61 games, with only 17 losses, while Cremins was the starting point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
for three years for the Gamecocks. Cremins, known affectionately as "Cakes", was also the captain of South Carolina's powerful 1969–70 team which went 25-3. He graduated from South Carolina in 1970 with a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, before playing professional basketball for one year in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
.
Early coaching career
Cremins started his coaching career at in 1971 as an assistant coach at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He next returned to South Carolina to become McGuire's assistant coach and to earn a M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in guidance and counseling in 1972.
At age 27, Cremins became one of the youngest NCAA Division I head coaches in history when he took charge of the Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University is a comprehensive , public, coeducational university located in Boone, North Carolina, United States. Appalachian State, also referred to as Appalachian, App State, or simply App, is the sixth largest institution in the University of North Carolina system...
's basketball team. In his first year at Appalachian his team had a record of 13–14, but then they accumulated an 87–56 record over the next five seasons, with three Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
championships. The Mountaineers posted a 23–6 record, and received an NCAA Tournament slot in 1979. Cremins's performance at Appalachian State gathered him some national attention in the NCAA coaching ranks, including catching the eye of the Georgia Tech athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
. Cremins was hired as the Rambling Wreck's new head basketball coach at the close of the 1981 season, on April 14, 1981.
Georgia Tech
Cremins took over an Atlantic Coast ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
(ACC) Georgia Tech team that had been winless in the conference and had compiled a four wins and 23 losses record in the basketball season before his arrival. His team progressed to the ACC Basketball Tournament championship in 1985, and they amassed a record of 27 wins with eight losses. In 1990, Cremins's team progressed all the way to the Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
in the NCAA Tournament, with an overall 28–7 record.
Cremins was three-times the ACC "Coach of the Year": In 1983 with the first ever Yellow Jackets' ACC tournament victory, and an overall 13–15 won/loss record; again in 1985, and again in 1996 when his team posted a 24–12 record, won the ACC regular-season championship with a 13–3 record, and progressed to the NCAA Basketball Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
's "Sweet 16". Cremins' coaching of the 1990 Yellow Jackets' team earned him the Naismith College Coach of the Year
Naismith College Coach of the Year
Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987...
honor.
Cremins next decided to retire from basketball coaching with an overall 25-year coaching record of 452–303 (60 percent wins), and with a Georgia Tech coaching record, in 19 seasons, of 352–233 (also 60% wins).
Cremins had a host of players that went on to have successful National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) careers. First there was Mark Price
Mark Price
William Mark Price is a retired American basketball player who played for 12 seasons in the NBA, from 1986 to 1998...
(the Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
) and John Salley
John Salley
John Thomas "Spider" Salley is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises....
(the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
) in the early 1980s, then Duane Ferrell
Duane Ferrell
Duane Ferrell is retired American professional basketball player.-Early life and college career:...
, Tom Hammonds
Tom Hammonds
Tom Edward Hammonds is a retired American professional basketball player and National Hot Rod Association drag racer. He was born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and attended Crestview High School in Crestview, Florida....
, Dennis Scott
Dennis Scott (basketball)
Dennis Eugene Scott is an American former professional basketball player. A 6' 8" small forward from Georgia Tech, and the 1989–1990 ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year, Scott was selected by the Orlando Magic with the fourth pick of the 1990 NBA Draft after being the leading scorer on a...
, Brian Oliver
Brian Oliver
Brian Darnell Oliver is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'4" and 210 lb shooting guard out of Georgia Tech, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA in the 2nd round of the 1990 Draft...
, Kenny Anderson
Kenny Anderson
Kenneth "Kenny" Anderson is a retired American basketball player. After a college career at Georgia Institute of Technology, he played point guard professionally from 1991 to 2006, mostly in the National Basketball Association....
, Jon Barry
Jon Barry
Jon Alan Barry is an American former basketball player and current television analyst for ABC and ESPN.-Biography:Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, and has three brothers: Scooter, Drew, and Brent, all of whom are also basketball players. Jon played his high school basketball at De La...
, Travis Best
Travis Best
Travis Eric Best is an American former professional basketball player, who played in the NBA and in Europe.-High school career:...
, Stephon Marbury
Stephon Marbury
Stephon Xavier Marbury is an American professional basketball player.The , point guard was selected out of the Georgia Institute of Technology by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 4th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, but was traded shortly thereafter to the Minnesota Timberwolves.He was an NBA...
, Jason Collier
Jason Collier
Jason Jeffrey Collier was an American professional basketball player in the NBA. At death, the tall center Collier weighed...
and Matt Harpring
Matt Harpring
Matthew Joseph Harpring is an American former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the NBA. He is currently the color commentator for the Utah Jazz.-College career:...
.
Cremins was also an assistant coach on the first-ever gold-medal-winning American World University Games team in 1986, assisting the head coach. Lute Olson
Lute Olson
Robert Luther "Lute" Olson is a retired American men's basketball coach. He was most recently head coach at the University of Arizona for a period of 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for 9 years and California State University, Long Beach for one season...
of the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. Cremins also assisted Olson at the 1986 FIBA World Championship
1986 FIBA World Championship
The 1986 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Spain from July 5 to 19 1986.The Final phase of the tournament was held at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid...
, also winning the gold medal there. During the summer of 1989 he coached the American team that qualified for the World Championships in 1990.
Cremins also assisted the former National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
coach Lenny Wilkens
Lenny Wilkens
Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens is a retired American basketball player and coach in the NBA...
in the American basketball team's appearance in the Summer Olympic Games of 1996
Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games were held from July 20, 1996 to August 4, 1996. Games took place at the Morehouse College Gymnasium and the Georgia Dome. For the second straight Olympic games, the American men's team composed almost entirely of NBA players won the gold medal...
in Atlanta. This team was the second of the "Dream Teams" in the Olympic Games, and it featured such NBA stars as Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
, Karl Malone
Karl Malone
Karl Anthony Malone , nicknamed "The Mailman", is a retired American professional basketball power forward who spent the majority of his career with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association . Malone spent his first 18 seasons with the Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate...
, Reggie Miller
Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne "Reggie" Miller is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association career with the Indiana Pacers...
, Shaquille O'Neil, Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen
Scottie Maurice Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association . He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA Championships and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins...
, David Robinson
David Robinson (basketball)
David Maurice Robinson is a retired American NBA basketball player, who played center for the San Antonio Spurs for his entire NBA career. Based on his prior service as an officer in the United States Navy, Robinson earned the nickname "The Admiral". He and teammate power forward Tim Duncan were...
and John Stockton
John Stockton
John Houston Stockton is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his entire career as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the NBA from 1984 to 2003. Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA records for most career assists and steals by...
, several of whom were returning for their second Olympic Games basketball tournament. This "Dream Team" was undefeated in the Olympic basketball tournament, of course, and it defeated the second-place Yugoslavian team 95–69 in the championship game in winning the gold medal.
On March 24, 1993, Cremins agreed to coach basketball at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
, before changing his mind and deciding three days later to continue at Georgia Tech. In 2003, Georgia Tech officially named the basketball court at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Alexander Memorial Coliseum
The Alexander Memorial Coliseum is an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the home of the basketball teams of Georgia Tech and hosted the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA from 1968–1972 and again from 1997–1999...
on the Georgia Tech campus, the "Cremins Court". Paul Hewitt
Paul Hewitt
-External links:**...
would take his place at Georgia Tech in 2000.
College of Charleston
Turning down numerous offers to coach during his retirement, and even an occasional athletic directors job, Cremins toured the country doing motivational speakingMotivational speaker
A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
, did television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
commentary
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
on ACC and NCAA basketball, and worked with charities, mainly for Coaches vs. Cancer and the Jimmy V Foundation. Cremins also raised money for a five-to-six week summer program, half of which include disadvantaged children, the Hilton Head Basketball Camp 101.
In 2006, Cremins returned to coaching at the College of Charleston
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...
, hoping to restore the basketball program there to the status of a significant team in college basketball that it experienced under coach John Kresse
John Kresse
John Kresse is a basketball coach and writer.He is former head coach of the College of Charleston Cougars and assistant coach with the New York Nets and St. John's University. Kresse has the 5th highest winning percentage of any Division 1 NCAA college basketball coach with 560 wins and 143 losses...
from 1980 to 2002.
Head coaching record
Personal life
With his wife Carolyn, Cremins has two children, Bobby III and Angela, and two step-daughters, Liz and Suzie, from Carolyn's earlier marriage. He lives in Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
.