I Love the Maroon Nation this Much!

Photo of Coach Cremins showing his love courtesy of Alan Hawes/Post & Courier

Hitler's Gamecocks Video

All right, so when Mel sent me this, I didn't want to post or watch this video of the changed sub-titles since I'd already posted the Cowboys' video on the Bushido. Well, that and I didn't want the folks in the next office to think that I was fuhrer fan, but this video is pretty funny and they don't misspell "lose" in this clip, so it was that much better. Funniest part-I'd say the Bobby "Cremins' wigs from '93" that A.H. can only sell when the drag show comes to town. Quite clever, and I am sure there will be more schools jumping on board.

Look what you started, Bobby Cremins by Gene Sapakoff of The Post & Courier

Ready for a new challenge By Gene Sapakoff The Post and Courier Friday, February 1, 2008 Al Behrman/AP Coastal Carolina basketball coach Cliff Ellis. At 61, former Clemson coach Ellis rebuilding again at Coastal Carolina CONWAY — Look what you started, Bobby Cremins: An obvious trend in which former major conference basketball head coaches emerge from retirement and broadcasting to beat the bushes for power forwards and study UNC Wilmington video before the warm South Carolina sun shines on breakfast. Cliff Ellis doesn't need this. Not the Big South Conference bus rides or losses to VMI and Liberty. Financially secure at 61, he was three years removed from a coaching career spanning 29 NCAA Division I seasons at South Alabama (1975-84), Clemson (1984-94) and Auburn (1994-2004) with eight NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 NIT trips. Only a last-second shot by Connecticut's Tate George kept his 1990 Clemson team from the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. His Auburn program made the cover of Sports Illustrated. But there he was Monday night at Kimbel Arena, the new Coastal Carolina head coach zipping about the Chanticleers' sideline late in a tight game against UNC Asheville and waving his arms at the student section across the floor. "Get up!" Ellis shouted. "Get up!" He kept cheerleading, even creeping several feet onto the court. "Get up!" Wearing a lime green tie, no less. The students complied, roaring as sophomore guard Logan Johnson made a 3-point shot to cut UNC Asheville's lead to 46-44 with 5:04 remaining. "I know Coach Ellis wants a home-court advantage as much as we do," Johnson said. "When he gets them going, it's a great feeling." It wasn't enough. Injury-riddled Coastal Carolina lost to the Bulldogs and 7-7 center Kenny George, 56-52, to fall to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the Big South going into Saturday's home game against Charleston Southern (1 p.m., Fox Sports South television). "I've taken on a massive building operation, you can see that. Massive," Ellis said. "But I love rebuilding. I love the game, I love teaching and I missed the competition." As a TV analyst, he got a close look at "mid-major" programs, including the College of Charleston last season with former Hilton Head retiree Bobby Cremins in his first year as head coach. Ellis consulted with Cremins, Citadel athletic director Les Robinson and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. When Ellis led Clemson to the 1990 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship, he clinched Clemson's only such title with a victory over Coach K's Blue Devils and other fellow ACC coaches also included Cremins (Georgia Tech) and Robinson (N.C. State). "I asked Bobby last year what it was like getting back," Ellis said. "He said, 'Truly, it's helping me stay young.' He said it was like running, at first you have to get in condition and then it's just like riding a bicycle. It's been the same for me." Surely, another part of the lure was salary (a five-year contract calls for $150,000 a year) and location (Cliff and Carolyn Ellis are renting in Surfside Beach while building a home overlooking Murrells Inlet). For its investment, Coastal Carolina wants Ellis to stick around. The Myrtle Beach Sun News reports his buyout clause is $1.5 million, perceived insurance after Buzz Peterson left two seasons into his Chanticleers tenure to take a front-office job with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. "Cliff wants to build a program," said Coastal Carolina athletic director Warren "Moose" Koegel, a former Penn State and NFL offensive lineman. "These kids are playing their hearts out and a lot of it is because of Cliff and his staff. We're really excited about the future." Koegel knew Ellis was forced out at Clemson and Auburn, and knew Ellis had run-ins with the NCAA during his tenure at both schools. "We investigated it, called people and talked to him about it," Koegel said. "We found out his name was not really mentioned in any of it. We got the true story, I think. When we had a chance to hire somebody with that kind of coaching experience, we did it, and he's a great person." Ellis introduced himself to Coastal Carolina boosters with a $10,000 donation to the school. His young staff includes Jimbo Tolbert, one of his former Auburn team managers. "The very first team meeting we had when I was at Auburn and the way he commanded the room, that's the day I figured I wanted to be a coach," Tolbert said. "I was in awe." Ellis seems to have adapted well to a team led by senior guard Jack Leasure, the Big South's best shooter. Leasure, a history major who introduced presidential candidate Barack Obama at a campus rally last fall, knows leadership. "This is my third coach in four years but it's turned out great," Leasure said. "He's a lot of fun to play for and he's a good preparation coach. It's a real thinking man's game with him." Ellis, who says he has nothing but sweet feelings for Clemson and Auburn, knows how he wants this story to end. "I want a championship here," Ellis said. "I took this job because there was one winning season in the last 13 years. I'm not a Kentucky or Duke guy. I'm an Auburn, Clemson, South Alabama guy. I love the challenge. This is me." Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5593. Copyright © 1997 - 2007 the Evening Post Publishing Co.

Under the Lights with Coach Cremins & Reminder, Cougs Host UNC-G Tonight!

The Cougs host UNC-G tonight. UNC-G are coming off two straight loses to UT-Chattanooga and App. State but don’t count these Spartans out. Kyle Hines became only the second player in Southern Conference history to record 300 blocked shots in a career with his two blocked shots against Elon on Jan. 19. These kids are definitely talented and hopefully the Cougs will have an answer to their forward’s attack in the paint. Game time is 7 pm @ Kresse Arena. I'll see you at the game!

Across town the Davidson Wildcats are facing off against the Citadel Bulldogs. Wear them down Dogs!

The College of Charleston drops their third straight

I didn't make it to Columbia for Cremins's second return to his alma mater this year, but I did catch the game on the tube. It was a great day for college basketball with Memphis taking on one of our old favorites, the Georgetown Hoyas and showing why the Tigers deserve to be ranked second in the nation. Memphis is quick, strong and aggresive, they just have such a great squad. (Photo courtesy of the Bushido)

But back to the College, the Cougs took on the Gamecocks and had three different 15 point leads but unfortunately the Cocks had hot hands from behind the arc, keeping them in the game and the College just couldn't answer. At times, I felt the old "live by the three, die by the three" mantra nagging the Cougs. Tony White Jr. had another great game, but the Cougs still didn't get the extra pass around the horn to find the open shot. We kept falling into traps on the wings and simply took deep shots that we just didn't have a chance to drop. And I hate to put it on the refs, but they simply made a bad call on a foul against the Cougs at the end of the game, which put the nails in the coffin. Cougs lost 82-85.

Cougs lose to Houston, slip to 1-3

The Cougs didn’t have much left in the tank for their game against Houston in the final round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Simply put we just didn’t have an answer for their big man, Robert McKiver.

But we did learn a few things from this tourney down in Puerto Rico

1-This (CofC) Cougar team is balanced, we’ve had a different scoring leader in our four games.

2-The Cougs are young but I believe by the end of the year this will be an outstanding squad of players.

3-Cuban-styled shirts with our logo are still cool, even though our team didn’t play in Cuba during this tournament and Bobby and the Cougs staff didn’t have stogies hanging out of their mouths.

App State-itis??? Or Michiganitis, Cougs lose in exhibition game against Augusta State

As we all know the biggest shocker of this football season was App State (a powerhouse in their Division winning back-to-back National Championships) defeating Michigan at the “Big House”. Now that the shock is over and the Wolverines are back in action, I’d be hard pressed to think the Mountaineers could return to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan, but as the football season progressed we’ve learned one thing-no one is safe.

So it seems the “Michiganitis” plagued the Cougars in their exhibition game against Division II powerhouse Augusta State, losing 65-63. Not only do the two “upsetters” have the same initials (ASU) but the favored teams had similar heartbreaks at the end of the game as the Cougars watched Jaguars’ Ben Madgen dropped a trey with 7.3 left on the clock, but the Maroon Nation would be hard pressed to think they (Augusta State) could come into the house Kresse built later on this season and walk away with a victory.

The Cougars led 32-28 at the half, but ASU showed the Cougars what we need to work on before the regular season begins next Saturday, mainly stopping a big man (i.e. Jaguars’ 6-11, 305 lb. center Garret Siler who scored 24 points) in the paint. Tony White, Jr. led the Cougars with 18-points (15 in the 1st half).

But remember, this is an exhibition game and thankfully it doesn’t count. Augusta State returned all five of their starters and they are a good basketball team. And although we have Coach Cremins at the helm, he doesn’t have a magic wand. It takes time for even the most talented players to develop and reach their full potential.

We returned two starters (Jermaine Johnson and Tony White, Jr.) from last season. It would seem only natural that most of our scoring in this exhibition game came from the perimeter, when we scouted our new talent (freshman-guard Andrew Goudelock who scored 17 and freshman-shooting forward Antwaine Wiggins who scored 13) we knew they would be a threat from behind the arc. And with the addition of Dustin Scott this season, Jermaine will have some added muscle in the paint; we just need these guys to get mean and in sync-which will come.

Link to Charles Bennett’s article in the Post & Courier

The Cougars begin their season at UNC Wilmington, 7 pm, on November 10th! Go Cougs!

Cremins Key-Note Speaker at TCC!

Coach Cremins will be the guest speaker for the 2007 Tallahassee Community College Sports Hall of Fame inductions ceremony on September 28th @ 7pm. Tickets are available through TCC's Athletic office at 201-8588.

Inductees:
TCC will induct Cincinnati Out-fielder Ryan Freel, who played for the Eagles for one season and helped them win their first Panhandle Conference Title in 1995. TCC & Florida State basketball player Kerry Thompson who helped the Eagles fight for their first thirty-win season, their first FCCAA State Tourney and was key in their fifty-four victories in the two-years he played for the squad before transferring in 1997 to FSU. Also being inducted is Tinsley Floyd a faculty member and a key supporter of the TCC Athletic Department in its' infancy.

Hopefully Coach's appearance will continue the tradition of talented players from TCC transferring to the College of Charleston.

Cremins Inducted Into New York City Basketball Hall of Fame

The 18th Annual New York City Basketball Hall of Fame inductees for 2007 are Bobby Cremins, Walter Berry, Al Bianchi, Mario Elie, Ed Pinckney, Hank Rosenstein, TV announcer Bob Wolff and the recently deceased basketball statistician Burt Beagle. Mr. Beagle who entered the NYC B Hall of Fame posthumously, passed earlier this year from cancer.

(Photo of Ed Pinckney, Hank Rosenstein, and TV announcer Bob Wolff courtesy of Baruch College, the City University of New York City)

Coach Cremins and Jim Courier will face off against Gov. Sanford and Pete Sampras for Bill Przybysz's Miracle Match Foundation

From http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/19/harrell_back_as_force_scisa_girls_tennis16387/:

Pete Sampras and Jim Courier in a clinic prior to the big exhibition on Sunday
afternoon at North Charleston Coliseum? You can, but it'll cost you $500. That's
the price for each of the 10 spots in a noon-1 p.m. clinic with the former
greats prior to their 3 p.m. exhibition.
All of the proceeds from the clinic
will go to former tennis pro Bill Przybysz's Miracle Match Foundation, which
will donate a portion of the proceeds to the MUSC Children's Hospital. Przybysz,
a victim of Acute Monocytic Leukemia, is touring the Children's Hospital today.
Some of the families of children at the Children's Hospital will attend Sunday's
exhibition. For information on the clinic, contact Jessica Kersey (216-0442).
Another chance to meet Sampras and Courier in a special 1:30 p.m. VIP
reception will be available for courtside ticket-holders at $150 per seat.
Gov. Mark Sanford will team up with Sampras against College of Charleston
men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins and Courier in a celebrity doubles match.

Although Sampras is a formidable opponent on the court, I think Coach and Courier will get it done in this Dutch-Doubles event. Tickets are on sale at the coliseum ticket office, all Ticketmaster outlets including select Publix grocery stores, charge by phone (554-6060) and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Happy Birthday Coach!

As the Nation turns 231, Coach Bobby Cremins turns 60! Happy Birthday Coach! We hope you don't consider this old enough to retire.

Photo credits, Jim Trabert taken in 2006 at the CofC vs U of Kentucky game.

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."

Honoring the College of Charleston Basketball Seniors!

(Photo from L to R: Nardo, Philip, CofC President George Benson, CofC Head-Coach Bobby Cremins, Dontaye and David-photo courtesy of CofC Sports)

College of Charleston Basketball Seniors in Action
In their final home game, in front of the 3rd largest crowd at Kresse Arena the Cougars' 4 seniors did not have the blow-out victory they wanted, but a "W" is a "W" and there is still a lot of basketball for the Cougars to play before they move to greener fields.

Renardo Dickerson: Nardo only played for 4-minutes, and wasn't able to increase his stats, but he was a dependable presence on the court in transition.
Dontaye Draper: Dontaye went 4-6 from the field, scoring 8-points with 3-boards in his 27-minutes of play.
David Lawrence: David was a rock star for 30-minutes, putting 21-points on the board, hitting 7-13 from the field, 3-4 from the charity-stripe, grabbing 5-rebounds and he was 4 for 8 from behind the arc.

Philip McCandies: Philip was limited to only 5-points, but he played fantastic defense and grabbed 11-rebounds for the College in his 30-minutes of play. He took advantage of the Citadel's pressure-defense, hitting 3 for 4 from the charity-stripe. Philip is averaging 8.3-boards in the last 3-games.

Senior Night: Dontaye Draper and Sapakoff's article in today's Post & Courier

Dontaye Dominic Draper is undoubtedly the leader of this year’s Cougar squad and he has the chance to become the first Cougar since Thaddeus Delaney to be named to the First team All-Conference in back-to-back years. Draper was a SoCon Player of the Year candidate and All-American candidate last season. Draper is also the only senior on the squad to spend all four years at the College of Charleston. Dontaye is averaging 16-points and 38.6-minutes per game this season. (Photo courtesy of the Post & Courier’s Mic Smith, the picture in the paper is mislabeled with Carmelo’s name).

The Baltimore, Maryland native began the season ranked 23rd on the All-Time Scoring List for the Cougars, and after a sensational senior season he is within one-point of passing Steven Johnson (played for the College of Charleston from 1984-1988, with 1,456 career points) as 7th on the Cougar’s All-Time Scoring List. Assuming he breaks the mark, he will be 49-points from Marion Busby’s 6th spot on the All-Time Scoring List.

2005-2006 Season
As the shooting guard last season, Draper led the Cougars with 18.5-points per game. He averaged 2.6 rebounds starting in 28 games for Cougars. Draper was named to the Billy Minardi Classic all-tournament team (University of Louisville tournament).

Gene Sapakoff’s finally penned an article worth his billing
Sapakoff wrote in today’s Post & Courier about the formula that produced the hard-working, corn-row wearing, future NBA star, Donataye Draper. The article covers every aspect of Draper’s rise to greatness showing with his body-ink a tribute to both his West-Baltimore background, where he developed life-long friends-namely Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony and his love for his maternal-heritage, Aundra Coner his mother and Mary Coner his grandmother. Sapakoff also goes into detail about his player development due to his friendship with Anthony and his competitive performance at Carmello’s “boot-camp” this past summer.

Despite whatever numbers Draper leaves the College with, I am sure he will go on to a bright future and (just as Carmelo Anthony has) give back to his community. The young group named HOOD (Holding Our Own Destiny) from West Baltimore has their eyes on greatmess and with their talents, they will achieve their goals. The Maroon Nation will always have a special place in our hearts for Dontaye and as Draper’s remarks show, "When the College of Charleston started recruiting me and I read about the history here, I fell in love," Draper said. "Once I got down here, I never wanted to leave. I love the fans. I love the school. I just love everything about Charleston." Love is a two-way street.

Special note: Draper has won me over the past 4-years, but it was his use of my high-school soccer coach’s “buzz-word”, “lackadaisical” that made the final attachment of my heart strings. Good Luck Dontaye in your future endeavors, do what you do best on the court to return our Cougars to the Big Dance! The guys look to you as their General; we need you to have an unstoppable performance in your last two regular season games and in the Southern Conference Tournament if we are to have a “Cinderella story book ending” this season.

Draper and his teammates give the members of the Maroon Nation great anticipation for the possibility of March Madness. If the Cougars can dance this season, this team will go down as one of the greatest squads ever and coach Cremins will undoubtedly add to his legacy, returning to basketball and leading a mid-major school to greatness.

Cougars face The Citadel tomorrow night, 7 pm at Kresse Arena

The Cougars, 19-9, 12-4 (SoCon), will face their cross-town rivals the Citadel Bulldogs, 7-20, 4-12 (SoCon), tomorrow night at Kresse Arena, tip-off is at 7 pm. This will be the 79th meeting between the two schools-the College leads the series 42-37, 15-2 since both teams entered the SoCon. The Cougars have won 9-straight against the Bulldogs and 10 of their last 12 games, giving the College of Charleston Basketball Program a RPI of 113.

Tony Ciuffo will give the radio play-by-play and Nate Ross will provide the color commentary. Coach Cremins is asking the Maroon Nation to come 15-minutes early to help celebrate the Seniors for their last home game. The Cougars final game will be at Georgia Southern, this Saturday at 1 pm; the game will air on ESPN 2.

Recon
With only 4 wins in the Conference and 7 for the season, the Citadel has a RPI of 300. Not a great record for Bulldogs fans to cheer about, but consider what Ed Conroy has done with the team. Coach Conroy has taken a team with only one win last year, to seven wins this year. The Bulldogs have a lot of talent on their bench and a few seniors who would like to go out with something on which to hang their hats. Ed Conroy is 0-2 all-time against the Citadel. Cougars Coach Bobby Cremins is 12-1 all-time against the Citadel.

In their last meeting, Marcus Hammond hit a career-high 21-points and Dontaye led the game with numerous assists as the Cougars went gang-busters against the Citadel in the second half at McAlister Field House winning 74-62 on January 9th. A win against the Citadel will give the Cougars their first 20-win season since the 2003-2004 season. And it will be the 21st time the Cougars built a 20-win season in the last 27 years.

Cougars sign Andrew Goudelock

Head Coach of the College of Charleston, Bobby Cremins signed Andrew Goudelock, a 6-foot-1, 165-lb. combination shooting and point-guard averaging 25-ppg in the regular season and 42-ppg in the R6-4A Tourney for Stone Mountain (Georgia) High School and leading Dekalb County in scoring, last weekend.

In the Regional 6A-AAAA Tournament at Miller Grove, Goudelock shot lights-out, scoring 12-points, 5 baskets from behind the arc, against St. Pius X, leading the Pirates to a 72-42 victory in the opening round of the Region 6-AAAA Tournament. Although Stone Mountain High lost to Tucker 78-79; Goudelock scored 39-points (then a career-high), in their final game before the region tourney, the Pirates shook off whatever jitters they had and took a No. 3 seed in sub-region A. The Pirates would win both of their regional games in the R6-4A Tourney with Goudelock “the Stone Mountain Sharpshooter” besting every player in the Dekalb County network in the post-season. On February 9^th, Goudelock raised the bar on his career-stats, scoring a new career-high of 47-points, in the 92--68 win over Lakeside, but the second round of the Region 6-4A tournament would prove a more modest score for the Pirates and Lakeside rematch; the Pirates won 73-41 and positioned the Pirates to clean-up as they moved forward in the State Tournament. Last Friday, Stone Mountain lost to the defending 2006, 6A-AAAA Champs, the Columbia Eagles 63-67 in the semi-finals of the Tournament. The Pirates did win the 3^rd Place game of the Tournament against Mays the following day, winning 70-51.

Goudelock’s scoring in the State Tournament:

February 13^th, Stone Mountain against St. Pius X, Pirates won 72-42. Goudelock scored 22-points

February 15^th, Stone Mountain against Lakeside, Pirates won 73-41. Goudelock scored 12-points

February 16^th, Stone Mountain against Columbia, Pirates lost 63-67. Goudelock scored 17-points

February 17^th, Stone Mountain against Mays, Pirates won 70-51. Goudelock scored 23-points

Goudelock is a superb and competitive offensive player. He has quick feet and pulls the trigger on his shots even faster. A special note for those of you unfamiliar with Stone Mountain basketball is that Goudelock is accomplishing all of these accolades on the Court while sharing the hoop with All-Tournament Player Ray Brown and Virginia Tech recruit Terrell Bell. But, this isn’t the T. Bell show; we are talking about Andrew Goudelock and besides, he is a more rounded player than Bell. Look for Andrew to develop more on the defensive side of the ball after coming to the College of Charleston, as Cremins will help transfer the speed Andrew has on offense to defense as well, producing a more balanced and competitive player-possibly moving to the next level after his stint at the College. Andrew’s AAU Team is the Atlanta Celtics. Goudelock chose the College because of Cremins’ system of play. We look forward to seeing Andrew next year to help us fill the void that Dontaye will be leaving behind.

Coach Cremins is a recruiting road warrior!

Today the UNC (22-3, 8-2 ACC) Tarheels killed Wake Forest (11-13, 2-9 ACC) 104 to 67 at the Dean Dome. Rayshawn Terry led the Heels with 23-points against his hometown team. Psycho-T put 16-points on the board and the youngster Wayne Ellington added 11.

Anniversary
Although the game was very important as the season begins to unwind, the show was at half-time as the Tarheels celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the 1957 Championship Team and the 25th Anniversary of the 1982 Championship Team. The list of former-players announced by Woody Durham was long and distinguished, but it was the final four (from the 1982 team) who garnered the most attention: Sam Perkins, James Worthy, Mike Jordan and Coach Dean Smith. (Picture courtesy of the AP). Indeed a group of champions celebrating their heritage and Coach Smith finally getting the NCAA Championship Title banner that eluded him for so many years.

Coach Cremins in the House!
With such a great group of honorees in the Dean Dome, it was a pleasant surprise to hear the announcers mention the College of Charleston's Coach Bobby Cremins' visit to the Dean Dome to scout players during the earlier game between Fork Union and UNC (JV). Coach made a quick drop in to check out the talent before today's game against UNC-G. The announcers mentioned that Coach is doing a great job down in Charleston, taking over a program made great by Coach John Kresse! Tony Cuiffo wasn't joking when he said that Coach was always recruiting!

CofC vs Davidson (Coaches and records)

Davidson is led by an 18-year veteran coach, Bob McKillop, who has the most wins in the SoCon for a head coach and the most wins for a Davidson head coach. McKillop is an enigma in the College Division 1 basketball world. He's been persued by numerous "big" schools (i.e. St. John's and Virginia) during his tenure at Davidson, yet still he decides to stay at Davidson (a school with 1,700 students) and makes winners of his teams each year both on the court and off. In McKillop's 17-years on the side-lines for Davidson, he has graduated 53 of 54 of his seniors-impressive.

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

McKillop's Wildcats vs CofC

Davidson leads the rivalry 41-8 (All-time) and 9-3 (SoCon) with a current 5 game winning streak. McKillop is 9-3 against the College and is 294-216 (.518 W%) in his 18 seasons at the helm. Many of college basketball's talking-heads thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Wildcats after they lost 4-starters, but it seems, Davidson is "reloading" and not rebuilding as their only losses came from major opponents Michigan (78-68), Mizzou (81-75), and Duke (75-47). Davidson is currently riding an eight game winning streak.

Cremins' Cougars vs Davidson

Although the Cougars trail the Wildcats in the rivalry, the College leads the SoCon in the most wins (94-35) with Davidson trailing (89-40) as a close second, but in the words of Ricky Bobby, "If you ain't first-you're last!" Cougar Coach Bobby Cremins is 8-1 against the Wildcats with his lone loss at Belk Arena on Jan. 30, 1980 when he coached App State. Coach Cremins is 9-6 (.600) in his first year as the leader of the Maroons, and Cremins is 463-313 (.597) in his 26 seasons on the side-lines. In the last meeting between the two schools, the Cougars lost at Belk Arena 63-65 on February 25, 2006. The Cougars are currently 9-6, as they ride a six game winning streak.

Although McKillop is the Coach K of the SoCon as Bobby referred to him on the B.C. Show, I think tonight's victory will go to the Cougars! Go Cougs!

Coach Cremins showlighted on tonight's "around the South" on FOX Sports Network

A post dedicated to the male CofC Sports Fans out there: I just finished watching the FSN and"Best Damn Hooters Dream Girl Special" airing tonight and January 10th @ 11 pm. The competition is between 16 of the hottest Hooters Girls for the cover of the "Best Damn Hooters Dream Girl Calendar" front page. Click here to vote for your favorite girl! Afterwards as I was posting on the Bushido, I saw that Coach Bobby Cremins' return to the hardwood is one of the segments in tonight's "Around the South" on FSN South.

"Bobby Cremins has the College of Charleston fired up! He's back in the game and loving every minute of it!"

Cremins looked great tonight, almost as good as the Hooter's models in the above photos. The interview covered our beloved Cougars winning 6-in a row, and Cremins' return to basketball: 1) He loves the game, 2) Wanted to get back into coaching, 3) The Opportunity came available and he said, "What the heck, why not take a leap and go on a new adventure."

The Magic Wand

Coach Cremins explained that it is not easy to get back in the fight and that everyone thought he'd come to Charleston wave a magic wand and everything would be copacetic. He knew it would be tough, but he didn't want to ruin the enthusiasm of the fans in Maroon faithful.

"This is not about Bobby Cremins it about helping the College of Charleston"

Coach Cremins' initial goals for the Cougs were to win a SoCon regular season title and then a SoCon Tournament and to dance in March. But now, his most important goal for the Cougs is to help the team find their identity as a team and to get this team clicking. "It is hard-work doing things right and being honest with yourself, but that is what will make this team the foundation of the Bobby Cremins Era at the College of Charleston.

Cougars face the Gamecocks tonight @ 7 pm, Bobby Cremins squares off with his old friend and basketball rival, Dave Odom

The College of Charleston (3-5, 0-1 SoCon) travels 110 miles up the road to Columbia tonight to face the 2006 NIT Champions, South Carolina Gamecocks (4-2, 0-0 SEC) at the Colonial Center. Both teams are coming off of a loss: the Gamecocks are coming off of a (53-74) loss to Clemson. The Cougars lost to Appalachian State last Saturday, 57-68. (Photo of Bobby Cremins at USC from SCETV.org)

Game Time:
Tip-off is at 7 pm and will be broadcasted on television by Fox Sports Net South, (Channel 28 in Charleston and Channel 31 in Cola). The radio broadcast will be on ESPN Radio: WTMZ-910 AM and WTMA 1250 AM, our friends, Nate Ross and Everett German will be the courtside analysts and the voice of the Cougars, Tony Ciuffo will handle the play-by-play action-this will be the same broadcast available on-line via SoCon.Tv.

The Series:
Currently, South Carolina leads the Cougars 25-1 (all time), 0-2 (since both joined the NCAA)-USC won in OT against the Cougs in a 65-53 victory (Dec. 22, 1993) and USC beat the Cougs in Charlotte, 55-44 (Dec. 4, 1998). The last time the College of Charleston beat the Gamecocks was Jan. 17, 1930, when the College won 40-32-a major blowout! This series has been played over a span of 89 years now, and with two friends, yet old ACC-rivals (Cremins @ Ga. Tech & Odom @ Wake) at the helms of both great schools, the series will just get better.

Recon:
I hate to use the phrase the Cougars are due, but I think we had enough time off this week for everyone to get focused and the Cougs are due. Obviously, we need Dontaye to get back into his rhythm and put the kind of points on the board that he had in the first three games. He’s matched up pretty evenly with his 6-foot mirror on the Gamecocks squad, Tre’ Kelley. (Kelley is the only Cock to put up double-digits in every game this year). Hopefully, Draper will have the opportunity to hit his shots as Tony White, Jr. is really coming into his role as point guard and taking off a lot of the pressure. (Tony, do me a favor, don’t stare down your passing targets so hard, I see where the ball is headed, and I think everyone else does too). Finally, we are going to need our big men, David Lawrence and Jermaine Johnson to beat the boards and stop USC’s center Brandon Wallace from getting his 8.5 rebounds per game. Finally, our guys need to hold USC freshman, (small) power-forward, Dominique Archie to similar stats as what he put up in his first 3 starts this year (7-points total).

USC is tough, no doubt about it. Their losses came from UC Irvine by 15-points and Clemson by 21-points. However, USC knocked off the other USC (Southern California) by a 6-point margin in OT this year, but the Gamecocks only beat the Citadel by 15-points (who hasn’t?), narrowly beat SC State by 3-points and beat Lipscomb by 7. Meaning, I think the Cougars will finally get hot and shoot better than the lingering median 30 percentile range that has plagued them for the past two-weeks. Also, enough with the Coach Cremins persona non gratis saga (I am talking to you Post & Courier) the older kids on these teams were in the 4th grade in 1993. Meaning, this will have just about the same effect on the Cougars’ players, as CofC fans chanting “Shannon Faulkner” during a Citadel game has on the Bulldogs’ players today. I think the Cougars have a strong chance to bring home a win from Columbia. The Gamecocks seem to already have their heads turned towards their trip to Waco, TX to face Baylor, so we might just be able to catch them snoozing tonight! Go Cougs!

Btw, for the record, I think the State newspaper’s Seth Emerson did a better job at downplaying the Cremins returning to Columbia issue than the Charleston Post & Courier. Special thanks to the Charleston staff of Charles Bennett and David Caraviello: (843) 937-5588 for putting that one together.