As South Carolinians Attack Cremins, McGee Seeks a Coach

As newspaper columnists and basketball fans attacked Bobby Cremins, an alumnus who turned his back on the job of coaching South Carolina’s basketball team, Athletic Director Mike McGee turned to finding someone for the job.

Cremins had announced he would coach the Gamecocks on Wednesday, then said Saturday he had changed his mind and will stay at Georgia Tech.

Wrote Ken Burger in the (Charleston) Post and Courier: “Cremins, as we all know, is a little wacky.”

And Bob Spear, in the (Columbia) State: “Bobby Cremins’ decision to renege on his commitment to Carolina left me amazed, stunned, flabbergasted and disgusted. I suspect I am not alone.”

University trustees questioned Cremins’ mental stability. One suggested the scenario was some kind of bizarre plot to exact revenge for forcing out mentor Frank McGuire and firing friend George Felton.

And those were just the comments that could be printed.

Around the state, the sometimes epithet-laced talk was about how Cremins had elated Gamecock fans, then burst their bubble.

Cremins was saying nothing, having taken a week off for vacation, Homer Rice, Georgia Tech’s athletic director, said.

McGee won’t talk about where he will pick up the search for a new coach.

He interviewed Western Kentucky’s Ralph Willard and Washington State’s Kelvin Sampson in Denver on Monday, the State said, quoting unidentified sources.

The paper said McGee contacted Lou Marciani, Western Kentucky athletic director, on Saturday night for permission to speak with Willard again. McGee also reportedly wants to speak with Massachusetts Coach John Calipari.

The Greenville News said George Washington’s Mike Jarvis also was in the pool.