ATLANTA (AP)—He now wears glasses, doesn’t jump quite as high in front of the bench and swapped the familiar gold tie for a maroon one.
Otherwise, same ol’ Bobby Cremins.
Back in the game after six years in retirement, the white-haired coach guided College of Charleston to a 72-66 victory Saturday over Georgia State, just down the road from the school where he made his mark.
Beforehand, Cremins took his new players on a tour of Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum, an arena dubbed the “Thrillerdome” during a 19-year reign that included three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and a trip to the Final Four in 1990.
Then they headed over to Georgia State’s 4,000-seat gymnasium, which was hardly the sort of big-time atmosphere that Cremins was accustomed to in his younger days. Even with friends and former players—such as ex-NBA coach Hubie Brown and former Tech stars Dennis Scott and Bruce Dalrymple—to bulk up the crowd, the small building was just a little more than half filled.
Nevertheless, Cremins was thrilled that his team overcame a 39-35 halftime deficit, taking command with an 11-1 run midway through the second half. He urged his players to step up their defense, and they responded by holding the Panthers to 38.5 percent shooting in the second half.
“Anytime you win on the road, I don’t care where it is or what league you’re in, it’s a great feeling,” Cremins said.
In the final minutes, Cremins was huffing and puffing as he implored his players to hang on. He jumped up and down, waved his arms and screamed at his players to keep up their intensity on defense.
“It’s tough,” Cremins said, breaking into a faint smile. “I’m worn out right now.”
Dontaye Draper scored 19 points to lead the Cougars, a former mid-major power that fell off a bit after longtime coach John Kresse retired in 2002. Enter Cremins, who wanted to get back in coaching after deciding that relaxing walks on the beach and endless rounds of golf didn’t quite cut it anymore.
True to form, Cremins did his best to deflect attention from his return to coaching. As the final seconds ticked off, he looked up at the scoreboard and gave that “aw-shucks” shrug of his as he headed down to shake hands with Georgia State’s players and coaches. He waved to a couple of people in the stands but quickly headed out the door, leaving his players to celebrate on the court.
“It’s about the game,” he said. “It’s not about me.”
Even though his thick Bronx accent always sounded a bit out of place in Dixie, Cremins became the toast of Atlanta when he transformed a once-moribund program at Georgia Tech into one of the strongest in the ACC.
But the Yellow Jackets declined dramatically in his final years, leading Cremins to accept retirement in 2000 rather than a rougher fate.
“We lost our swagger. We lost that edge,” Cremins conceded. “Paul Hewitt (his successor) brought it back. When I walk in the coliseum now, I recognize that buzz. It’s back.”
Cremins is back, too. He still wears the navy blue blazer that was his trademark at Georgia Tech, but switched to a maroon tie in keeping with colors of his new team. That wasn’t the only thing different.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever coached wearing glasses,” he said.
Then he hustled out the door, looking for the bus that would take the Cougars on their five-hour ride back to Charleston, S.C.
“Probably at about 2 o’clock tonight,” Cremins said, “I’ll wake up and say, ‘Wow. Wow.”’
