Cremins pleased with first full C of C recruiting class by Andrew Miller w/ the Post & Courier

College of Charleston basketball coach Bobby Cremins certainly hasn't lost his touch when it comes to recruiting.

Known as one of college basketball's top recruiters when he was at Georgia Tech, Cremins signed five players, including one of the top junior college prospects in the country, to this year's recruiting class.

In his first full season of recruiting, Cremins landed 6-0 guard Donald Davis of Deer Park, N.Y.; 6-1 guard Andrew Goudelock of Stone Mountain, Ga.; 6-1 guard Donovan Monroe of Waxhaw, N.C.; 6-8 forward Dustin Scott of Tallahassee Community College and Timberland High School; and 6-7 forward Jeremy Simmons of Stone Mountain, Ga.

"I'm ecstatic about this recruiting class, and we're still waiting to hear from one more kid to make it truly a great class," Cremins said. "We filled almost all of our needs. We would have liked to have signed a point guard in this class, but a couple of the guards in this class should be able to play at the point."

The biggest catch of the class is Scott, who led Timberland High School to the Class AAA state title in 2003. Scott, who will be a junior next season, was rated among the nation's top junior college players. Scott reportedly got serious consideration from Clemson, Louisville, South Florida, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee before signing with the Cougars.

"I think Dustin has a chance to come in and help us right away," Cremins said. "We were on him pretty hard during the early signing period, but to be honest, he didn't have much interest in us. He was getting interest from some big-name schools, so I wasn't sure we had a chance at him."

The turning point for Cremins and Scott, who averaged 14 points and almost eight rebounds a game at Tallahassee Community College, came when the Cougars advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament final at the North Charleston Coliseum.

"I think that had a lot to do with him signing with us," Cremins said. "He was there for the finals against Davidson and he saw what we were trying to build here. I like having local kids in the program and to get a player of Dustin's stature is just phenomenal."

Cremins said he worked hard to land a couple of players during the early signing period in November.

"We went 0-for-2 during the early signing period and I was starting to get a little concerned," Cremins said. "I thought I'd lost my touch. The kids decided to go with some bigger-name programs, so it was understandable, but we were a little worried back in November."

The Cougars are still waiting to hear from one last prospect and hope to learn something this morning.

With just one scholarship point guard in the program - rising sophomore Tony White, Jr. - Cremins is hoping that either Davis, Monroe or Goudelock can eventually be play some at point guard.

"All three are combo guards that have the potential to play the point," Cremins said. "We were really looking for a point guard in this year's class. If one of them doesn't work out, we'll sign a point guard in next year's class."

Cremins is quick to point out that Dontaye Draper wasn't a full-time point guard until his senior season.

"Dontaye turned out OK for us at the point," Cremins said.

Monroe, who played last season at Fork Union Military Academy, could be the sleeper of the class, Cremins said.

"Because we need help at the point, I think Donovan has a chance to come in and get some early playing time," Cremins said. "I think he's going to surprise some people."