Athletic director Joe Hull (left) and interim head basketball coach Mark Byington take questions at the press conference to announce Bobby Cremins’ leave of absence as College of Charleston head basketball coach (Colin Johnson/GSO)
A whirlwind day of speculation and Twitter traffic ended with top assistant Mark Byington taking over the reins of the College of Charleston’s men’s basketball program, as head coach Bobby Cremins stepped aside for undisclosed medical reasons.
Athletic director Joe Hull made the official announcement about Cremins’ medical leave.
“Bobby Cremins is a beloved member of the College of Charleston family,” Hull said. “He has had terrific career, and I personally hope that he coaches for many years to come. However, he will not be coaching in the near future. He will be taking an immediate leave of absence. While I cannot predict the future, I do not expect him to be back coaching this season.
“While Bobby recovers, I ask the media and our fans to respect his privacy.”
Hull and Byington were both adamant that the ailment was not life-threatening. Cremins was not present at the press conference, but Hull did read a statement from the head coach, which read in part:
“Mark is an outstanding young man and basketball coach. I have complete faith in him, as do our players. Being able to come back and coach at the College of Charleston has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I hope everybody will continue to support our team and Mark.”
While Cremins’ five-plus seasons have been rewarding, his youthful Cougars are currently mired in one of the worst slumps in recent memory. The team has lost seven of its last 10 games after a 9-1 start, and is languishing in fourth place in the Southern Conference South, with a 4-5 league mark. They are 12-8 overall.
As the team approaches a home game against Wofford – the Terriers beat the Cougars in the SoCon Tournament final last season to earn the league’s only NCAA Tournament bid – on Saturday, Byington said he would look to his players to step up their leadership roles.
“I’m going to turn leadership over to the older guys: to Andrew Lawrence, to Trent Wiedeman, to Antwaine Wiggins,” Byington said. “They’re going to be responsible for getting the team to play hard. We’ll get them prepared, we’re going to work hard, and we’re going to play as hard as we can every single game.”
While Wiedeman and Wiggins both said they would need to shoulder that leadership role, Lawrence put himself under the microscope.
Junior Andrew Lawrence awaits questions from the media on Friday (Colin Johnson/GSO)
“I put all of this on myself, there is no doubt. I think I need to do a better job,” said Lawrence. “The last few games, I haven’t stepped up as much as I need to. I’m confident in our team and I’m really confident in Coach Byington.”
The Post and Courier’s Gene Sapakoff first reported the news via Twitter that Cremins, “for non-life threatening health reasons, will step down, at least briefly,” citing “a high-level source.”
Even though the coaching staff had wanted to tell the players in a meeting before today’s 3:15 p.m. practice, many heard the news second-hand or through the social media grapevine. Injured freshman Anthony Stitt responded on Twitter: “I feel betrayed,” and followed that with “I’m hurtin right now… I ain’t even gonna lie.”
Hull did give some indication that the announcement was not entirely unexpected, even though the timing caught everyone off-guard.
“I did not have an inkling that it would be today,” Hull said, in reference to the timing. “But was Coach [Cremins] thinking about the end of the season? Or what the future might be? He was giving some thought to that. No decisions had been made, but he was giving some thought to that. So [was I] 100% surprised? No.”
Byington knows that the change is abrupt, and knows that the College of Charleston faithful would have expected to see the white-haired former national coach of the year when the Cougars take the floor against Wofford.
“To the people of Charleston, to the Cougars fans, to everyone else: We’re going to want your support,” Byington said. “We’re going to promise – you can ask each one of these guys – that we’re going to play very, very hard, and give everything we’ve got. So I’d appreciate the community supporting these guys more than ever.
“This is a great, great basketball town, and a great basketball college. To support these guys would go a long way, and they’re going to make sure they give you the effort to reciprocate your support.
But, when the day was done, everyone was focused on the next day’s game. None more so than Wiggins, the Cougars’ lone senior.
“I’m definitely excited. I can’t wait,” Wiggins said. “I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight, because I’m so excited.”
Sitting in close support of the news of their coach: Antwaine Wiggins (left), Jordan Scott, Trent Wiedeman, Bart Benton, Anthony Stitt and Nori Johnson (Colin Johnson/GSO)
