AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > March > 05
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Cremins leading the cheers for Hewitt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
What you’re about to read isn’t within several fast breaks of normal in big-time athletics. I mean, you’ll never guess who ranks as the biggest supporter of the current Georgia Tech basketball coach.
It’s the previous Georgia Tech basketball coach. Some guy named Bobby Cremins, now the head man of hoops at the College of Charleston. Even so, Cremins often calls Paul Hewitt two, three or how many other times per week Cremins deems necessary to offer his considerable support.
“I’m back in the rat race here [at the College of Charleston], but Georgia Tech is still very important to me, and I watch every game I can,” said Cremins, whose 19 seasons coaching the Yellow Jackets to fame officially ended in 2000. Unofficially, he never left, with his son, Bobby Jr., attending every home game and with Cremins referring to the Jackets as “we” and “us” more often than not.
You can attribute much of Cremins’ ongoing love affair with Tech to his admiration of a young coach from Siena College whom he never met until he became Cremins’ successor. “Paul’s been very good to me,” Cremins said. “He hired one of my players, Willie Reese, as a coach. He kept my secretary for a long time. He’s very bright, and he’s a great coach, and he’s a great person. Paul brought us back, because we lost something near the end, and he brought us back fast — maybe too fast. He’s been great for us, and any way I can help him, I’ll do it in a second.”
No, this isn’t normal. The old guy often resents the new guy, or it’s the other way around. Instead, Cremins hugs Hewitt, and Hewitt squeezes back. “I appreciate Bobby’s support, and other than my dad, during the course of the season, I don’t think I hear from anybody more than Bobby,” said Hewitt, laughing, maybe to keep from crying. His Jackets enter Thursday’s game at Alexander Memorial Coliseum against Clemson with a 12-16 record overall and 5-9 in the ACC.
Just four years ago, Hewitt’s team was in the Final Two. It reached March Madness two of the next three seasons. Then came this year’s collapse that was spurred by the early departures of Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young to the pros, a self-inflicted schedule of brutality and the transfer of the gifted Mouhammad Faye to SMU for academic reasons.
So Cremins keeps calling. “After a loss, he’ll say, ‘Hang in there. Just keep your head up. You guys will be fine. You lost two good ones [Crittenton and Young],’ ” Hewitt said. “He’s constantly reminding me of those things, and it helps. Bobby sat in that seat [as Tech coach], so he understands the challenges you go through.”
There is the challenge of recruiting good students who also can play a little for a school that mostly practices what it preaches when it comes to academics. There is the challenge of seeking to keep from getting bitten too badly while operating among the basketball monsters of the ACC. Finally, there is the challenge of having a fan base that expects the Jackets to do much of the biting in the conference and beyond, especially after Cremins created his own monster at Tech.
Those John Salley and Mark Price years gave way to Lethal Weapon 3, and then to Travis Best, Stephon Marbury, Matt Harpring and the rest. It ended for Cremins with the Jackets after three losing seasons in his last four years.
“I thought Stephon would stay two seasons [before going pro], but he stayed one, and it killed us,” Cremins said. “I don’t blame him for leaving. It’s never the kid’s fault for trying to better himself. But I’ve talked to Paul about being careful recruiting a great player and not having a plan for when he leaves. I lacked foresight. I was an idiot.”
That’s opposed to what Cremins calls Hewitt, which is a blessing. “Anybody who gets on Paul is crazy. I hope he stays at Georgia Tech for a long time,” Cremins said, before adding with enthusiasm, “I know he’ll bring us back.”
Permalink | Comments (43) | Post your comment | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
Falcons had no choice but run with Turner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
You never like to admit these things in sports. That said, sometimes, a local legend has to go, even around Atlanta.
Dale Murphy’s time was up. The same went for Jessie Tuggle, Hank Aaron, Spud Webb and Phil Niekro.
Plus, even though you can debate whether the Hawks ousted Dominique Wilkins too soon, he played less than three more seasons in the NBA at a mediocre level after he was shipped out of Atlanta in 1994.
Here’s my point: The Falcons needed to snatch Michael Turner out of free agency, mostly because they hadn’t a choice.
Actually, they did.
They could have ignored the obvious, which is that they had an incumbent running back last season with a willing heart but also with 33-year-old legs that kept saying, “No mas” more often than not.
Warrick Dunn is a splendid human being in so many ways, and he also is the owner of on-field credentials that sit just shy of Canton, but Dunn had to go. In fact, he already was going physically. So in comes Turner with his 26-year-old legs after four years as LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup at 5-foot-10 and 237 pounds.
It makes sense. New Falcons coach Mike Smith wants a power running game, especially since he was used to seeing one as the defensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Whereas the Jaguars have Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, the Falcons now have Turner as Taylor and Jerious Norwood as Jones-Drew.
The Falcons don’t have Dunn as anything anymore.
It happens.
Permalink | Comments (156) | Post your comment | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Quick Hit, Terence Moore
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
