Charleston’s Cremins a familiar face for men's basketball

Although the Terrapin men's basketball team has played College of Charleston just once before in program history, coach Gary Williams will see a friendly, familiar face on the Cougars' bench tonight — that is, at least until the whistle blows.

Bobby Cremins, a friend and former league rival whose coaching career at Georgia Tech spanned three decades, has led the Southern Conference school since 2006, when he accepted a job with the Cougars after six years out of coaching. But from the opening tip-off until the final buzzer, Williams said, their camaraderie will be put on hold.

"Bobby Cremins is trying to win this game tomorrow night as hard as I am, I guarantee you that," Williams said. "And that's the way it should be. There's no reason why, no matter what happens in the game, you can't be friends before and after."

Cremins started at Georgia Tech in 1981, only the Yellow Jackets' third year in the ACC, and quickly transformed the school into a regional and national contender. In four short years, Georgia Tech won the conference championship and advanced to the Elite Eight.

In the 1989-90 season, when Williams accepted the Terps' coaching job and started his own rebuilding project, Cremins took Georgia Tech to the Final Four and was named the Naismith College Coach of the Year.

A decade later, the coaches had become colleagues as well as competitors.

Cremins said that a Yellow Jacket loss to the Terps late in the 1999-2000 season — the fourth straight in which Georgia Tech would miss the NCAA Tournament — helped him decide it was time to retire.

Williams was one of the first people he called about that decision. And even then, the Terp coach said he knew Cremins would not stay away from coaching forever. In 2006, he was proven right.

"It was longer than I thought," Williams said. "I thought he'd be back into it quicker because he's really good. He's good for a program because he gets people excited."

Now, Cremins returns to College Park, where his old squads used to battle the Terps at Cole Field House.

And while the ACC itself has also changed since Cremins last faced Williams, the Cougar coach still remembers how to win against the league's members.

College of Charleston beat defending national champion North Carolina last January, and the 82-79 overtime win started a downward spiral for the then-No. 9 Tar Heels. Point guard Andrew Goudelock scored the final eight points in regulation, including a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left en route to a game-high 24 points.

"He's the guy that basically beat North Carolina last year," Williams said. "He's the preseason player of the year in the Southern Conference."

Now a senior, Goudelock leads a team that relies on sharp shooting from its backcourt. The Cougars averaged 9.6 3-pointers per game last season, tied for third most in Division I.

The Terps' athleticism helped them overcome a shaky first half and 29 turnovers in their season opener Monday against Seattle. But Williams knows the dangers a Cremins-coached team can present if the Terps aren't watchful.

"He's an accomplished coach, one of the good guys in coaching, and his teams compete," Williams said. "They always show up and play."

kyanchulis@umdbk.com