The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 26, 1993, Page 6, Image 6
TO
McGee
first b
Lost in all the
excitement of the gHPPl
naming of Bobby
Cremins as USC's WpmmL
head coach was the - JB
job that Athletic
Director Mike McGee Idid
in getting
Cremins to come to
Carolina. P
McGee used his
fine administrative C O U
skills to lure one of 1????
the nation's finest coaches to a
troubled program. What is especially
great about what McGee did
is what he did not do. He did not
pressure Cremins to take the job
by issuing ultimatums to him,
while at the same time, he made it
known to Bobby that he was the
school's first choice.
He read Cremin's emotions and
feelings and let him work out the
ambivalence he felt towards leaving
Georgia Tech and the program
he spent 12 years building.
While the media was building
up Cremins as the next Gamecock
coach, Cremins was in the midst of
liiiiMiiug up ins season ai iecn.
McGee gave Cremins the opportunity
to do just that.
"I like the way Mike handled
me, he always told me to go ahead
and coach my team first," Cremins
said.
Thank God Cremins did that.
McGee did a wonderful job in hiring
a coach that had enough
integrity to honor the responsibilities
he already had. If Cremins
were the coach here and another
school was trying to get him as
their head coach for the next season,
I would certainly expect
Bobby to coach the 'Cocks just as
hard as if it were his first game
here.
The way Cremins coached Tech
at the end of the year is obviously
a symbol of the commitment that
Cremins will give to the Gamecock
basketball program. The entire
process or ninng L remms is a tribute
to the personal character of
both Cremins and McGee. They
respected one another enough not
to do anything to pressure the other
to act prematurely or to create
any false pretenses in the whirlwind
of rumors that had everyone
wondering what was going on.
Misinformation easily could
have been created by both parties
and caused the negotiations to fail.
The only exception, aside from the
Senior All-American Tiff Toodle, s
Softball tear
From Staff Reports i
The USC softball team swept a I"
double header from the Toledo ^
Rockets Wednesday, 2-0 and 2-0. 9
The sweep raised the Lady
Gamecocks record to 17-9-1 on the S
season. u
Shani Cannon's single in the ^
bottom of the fifth drove in
Toinette Reed and Dana Fulmer to "
give South Carolina the 2-0 victory
i passe;
ig test
media speculation,
by USC's athle
If-m "% Cremins had decic
to stay at Georj
MlPm % During the disci
sions between the v
parties, McGee kn<
V I N he was dealing witf
L T E R great coach in Bob
Cremins. And lik
wise, Cremins km
who he was dealing with as well.
"I checked Mike out...Mike h
a great reputation as an athlei
director," he said.
That aspect of the school ai
the program seemed to be ve
important to Cremins. He repeate
ly referred to Homer Rice, tl
Athletic Director at Georgia Tec
with nothing but praise. If US
was not blessed with an admini
trator as well respected as Mil
McGee, the final decision
Cremin's mind might not ha>
been "yes", especially considerii
how difficult a choice it was f<
Cremins to make.
However, the two overridin
factors in Cremins decision I
become coach at USC were tf
need for "a change, a new cha
lenge" and the desire to return I
his alma mater. "It's always been
dream of mine to come back hei
and coach" the new coach sait
Cremins elaborated further on h:
love for USC by saying "I woul
like to end my college caree
where I started it."
Even though McGee was not th
main reason whv Bobbv decided ti
come here, he did, however, have
lot to do with Cremin's decision ti
come here Wednesday. "Miki
waited with me and stayed witJ
me until the bitter end and tha
meant a lot to me," Cremins said
"I believe in Mike McGee."
McGee stood to the side of thi
packed conference room a
Williams-Brice stadium with ;
smile on his face that stretche<
from ear-to-ear. Mike McGe<
demonstrated first hand to Soutl
Carolina followers his great abili
ties on Wednesday. With Mikt
McGee at the head of the Soutl
Carolina athletic department
Gamecock fans have reason to gei
excited about the seasons to romp
They will, however, have to be
patient and "cautiously optimistic."
mmmmm
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cores one of the Lady Gamecocl
n sweeps d<
n game one. Darlene Gareis
>icked up the win for the Lady
iamecocks, raising her record to
'-6 on the season.
In game two, freshman Kim
heridan hurled her second consective
one hitter while the Lady
iamecocks won a hard-fought conjst
2-0 from the Rockets. The win
Ttproved Sheridan's season record
) 5-3. Toinette Reed scored both
Spoi
s i mmm&m
ise
tic
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Dr
New Gamecock head coach Bobby Crei
: Cremins'
n
a By ANDREW BORGERT Gamec
Staff Writer 2^-3 c
Cremins is coming! Cremins is and 1
^ coming! ACC.
,r Ok, we get the message, but at t,1(
let's take a look at why he felt the North
pull to come back to USC. State
Cremins' story, if you don't tourna
know, begins in New York City. them
Coming out of high school, he NCAA
was a part of Coach Frank Despit
McGuire's famous New York Carolii
Pipeline. Established back in his ranked
1 North Carolina coaching days, nation.
' McGuire was known for his abili- "He
ty to recruit high school stars was a
s from the Big Apple and bring player,
t them down to the Southland. Billy McGuu
a Cunningham and Larry Brown are Atte
1 some of the New York area play- played
i ers who came down to Chapel son anci
i Hill for McGuire. coachin
When he arrived, Cremins Colleg
i became part of the most success- "eturne
j ful period of South Carolina's assistan
basketball history. He was a three- anc*
L year letterman helping USC teams '-oach u
combine for a 61-17 record. Durir
Cremins' senior year saw the assista
m# by nan
wH ^P1 Sports E
jk* weekend
off at 8
Wood lan
This I
ever bel
coming
' v*?, - >.-< *
Teams ol
\ * - ? defending
? Furman,
Pete Rogers/The Gamecock jq team
c's runs against Toledo. pjve a
-| -j 1 -j each tean
Dubleheader ssr^s
mine the
runs for head coach Joyce "ie ^
Compton's squad in the second ,0 ser,i?r
game. Reed also had one stolen 'a '?y'
base. sophomoi
The Lady Gamecocks will par- Clarissa
ticipate in the Winthrop
Invitational this weekend and then
travel to Chapel Hill to take on the
Lady Tarheels before returning to , r
Columbia to face Virginia for their
next hoiqe game April 3.
rts
v *>&#$!& ' ' >11
k
Wf ls3&tm^SSKWBHBHaB^^^ ^ -: -. -_ ..-^ ..^,- ^Ikt.
f' *
nins began his collegiate basketball career ?
career conn
_ _ _ -wm*- ? * -m..JBk. ^
ocks reach a |B~]n ad
verall record FB r al N<
4-0 in ihe ^ff' W% Mtm nu
(Cremins) CrCminSi
very intense thei
a coach on the floor," head coach at Apj
e said. in 1975. He was
r he graduated, Cremins time, making him
pro ball overseas for a sea- coach in the NC/
I then returned to begin his After taking over 1
g career at tiny Point Park lost 20 games,
e in Pennsylvania. He Mountaineers to t
d to USC as a graduate Conference titles c
t fVn- 1 fno -T'")
ii xvm uic 17/Z-/J season years uiere.
lyed on as an assistant When he was hii
ntil 1975. Tech in 1981, the
ig his three-year stay as an finished a disastrou
nt, the Gamecocks His record at Geor
3lf team spo
ICY SALOMONSKY five-woman roster.
d't?r The remaining
1993 Lady Gamecock sophomore Lea B
lent will take place this Margret Hickey,
, featuring 90 competitors Norris and sopl
teams. Zebick, will compe
53-hole, three-round competition,
golf tournament will tee Head Coach Kin
:30 a.m. Friday at the tbe team has great
ds Country Club. player could be t
oumament is larger than ,ime.
ore, with the 18 teams The Columbia c
out of 10 conferences. yards lonS (NCA/
interest include Duke, the yards) with a
I National Champion, and "Players enjoy \
also anotlier consistent top course because it is
and they usually g
thletes will compete for scores," Erickson sa
l, with four out of the five has ab9ut tou|" ho,<
ounting. The three-day conceriliation.
II be combined to deter- '?ther two
winner. Saturday at 11 a.m.
tdy Gamecocks will look ' 1 a in- awarc^s
Rachel Bates, sophomore lows the lound on
freshman Siew Ai Lim, Woodlands Counuy
e Jill Darr and freshman ?H Spaikleberry Ro
Chi Ids to make up the Columbia.
was<
b %t
Ml .
|*^
Hp ^HAv ^Bpflr
wm
File Photo
is USC's starting point guard from 1967-70
es full circle
vanced to the that point on is well-documented,
2AA tourna- with three ACC titles, a Final
mt twice and Four appearance and several Alle
NIT once. Americans heading the list.
ayers during Cremins was" twice voted national
s time included coach of the year and was ACC
ike Dunleavy, Coach of the Year five times at
ex English and lecnvin
Joyce all became known for his abiliwhom
went on ^ 10 recruit wel1 on a nalionaI
nU? ... level establishing his own version
play pro ball Qf (h? New Y?k pjpe|jne His
varymg sc[je(jujes at Tech were among the
grees of sue- toughest in lhe country, with
f" . games against such teams as
.remins was Michigan, Kentucky and
i hired as the Louisville, in addition to the rigpalachian
State orous ACC schedule,
only 27 at the As South Carolina's coach,
the youngest Cremins will be looking to do the
\.A Division I. same thing he did with Tech ?
"or a team that making the program nationally
he led the known. Tough scheduling and
hree Southern strong national recruiting are the
luring his five Cremins style. One can only hope
the results here are the same,
ed by Georgia Don't look for any miracles. But,
team had just much like the weather right now,
is 4-23 season, the sun finally seems to be shingia
Tech from ing on USC.
nsors tourney
four athletes,
lagwell, senior Alabama
freshman Julie Coastal Carolina :
lomore Kerry Duke
te in individual Furrnan
Indiana
i Erickson said Kansas
depth and any Memphis State
he key at any Michigan
c 0** Minnesota
ourse is 5,866 . _
V regulation is Mississippi State
lot of bunkers. Missouri w
playing on the Ohio State m
not too tricky. South Alabama jf
;et pretty good South Carolina jf
id. " The course Tennessee Jf
:s that demand UNC-Wilmington
Vanderbilt //
rounds begin WakeForest WiMW
and Sunday at
ceremony fol- ^ J '
i Sunday. The \db?> JH
Club is located Ciii/
ad in northeast Chris Muldrow/The Gamecock
C-FM~
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