Thursday, October 26, 2006

A Legend Comes to Charleston

October 26 - I learned two things Thursday night that had somehow slipped under my radar; Bobby Cremins is coaching college basketball again, and the Pi Kappa Alphas at College of Charleston are absolutely insane.

Charleston, like countless other D-I programs, opened their season this week with a public practice designed to give students and fans an early crack at seeing the team live and in color. Think Norman Dale’s first public appearance with the 6-person Hickory Huskers in Hoosiers. And then take away the crowd chanting “Jimmy, Jimmy!” and Coach Dale scolding them for “cheering for who we are not.”

There was no scolding or disgruntled chanting at John Kresse Arena on the Charleston campus Thursday night, or if there was, it was overshadowed by the smell of popcorn in an old gym, dozens of really pretty Pi Theta Alphas, a too-tall, snow haired basketball wizard who looked positively bewildered that he’d found himself in the middle of all this, again.

When Cremins left Georgia Tech in 2000, after 14 winning seasons and as many postseason appearances, he called it “retirement.” Overshadowed by the ACC contemporaries Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski, the rebuilding job Cremins led at Georgia Tech was extraordinary.

Taking over a 4-23 team in the spring of 1981, Cremins (hair already white) was competing not only with the basketball powers of the southeast, but with history. Tech had stunk, and they’d stunk for a long time. But by the end of Cremins’ fourth year at the helm, he was coaching a squad that won 27 games, the ACC regular season and tournament title, and a spot in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight. And all of this would have shocked you, if you hadn’t the first page of the man’s bio:

College Position: three year Point Guard, teams went 61-17 under his leadership

College Degrees: Marketing, Guidance and Counseling.

An architect on the court, and an emotional counselor off it, and he knows how to sell. Could you even come up with a better coaching pedigree?

And then just when most college coaches are finding their stride, Cremins, at 52, walked away from Georgia Tech and the big time altogether.

During Cremins’ six year layoff from college basketball, this year’s class of Pi Kappa Alphas was in high school, picking a university, and probably just on the verge of plotting their career in collegiate chicanery. See, Maroon Madness, as this evening is called, isn’t just about basketball. In addition to providing the students a first look at their Cougars, they’re also engaging in one of the most overdone, hackneyed, clichéd, and utterly awesome staples of fraternity/sorority life.

The Skit Competition.

The Skit Competition goes like this: The Greek Council decides on a theme. (“Music Videos.”) Then each house spends months concocting the biggest, baddest blend of; A. horribly pathetic dance moves, B. absolutely awesome dance moves, and C. dressing up as the other gender, that they can. Biggest, baddest blend wins. All of the other houses gather around, cheering on their friends, going berserk for their house, doing a lot of incomprehensible chants, and figuring out who they’re going to try to sleep with that semester. Its outstanding.

This year’s Skit Competition winners, hands down, has to be the mad geniuses from Pi Kappa Alpha. Here’s how it goes down: Eight Pikes dressed as girls, with huge water balloon fake boobs (check) come out gossiping. Then a dude walks by in a bunch of Citadel gear, hitting on the “girls” by doing some horribly pathetic dance moves (check). (Sidenote: Apparently it’s a big joke around here that the cadets from the Citadel are a bunch of d-bags, always coming downtown and bragging about their “platoon” for the Charleston ladies. This is the third skit with a dude from the Citadel that dances like a retarded baboon.)

All of a sudden, you know something really cool is about to happen, because “Regulate” by Warren G starts blasting over the speakers. A huge, home made brown, papier mache jalopy/jeep rolls out to center court, and out pop: you guess it, about 10 Pi Kappa Alphas doing absolutely awesome dance moves to the Most Loved Rap School by Suburban White Kids of all time. (Check, check and check.) Madness ensues. Five minutes later, the badass Pikes from the jalopy are pulling down their pants, each revealing a separate sorority name on his underwear. A lookalike Bobby Cremins with spray painted snow white hair comes out and gets down badder than all of ‘em. It’s a phenomenally entertaining, explicitly collegiate, can’t-look-away riot.

I have to leave before the sorority portion of the event, which absolutely kills me, given that the Pi Theta Alpha skit has something to do with three really sexy Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz look alikes doing absolutely awesome dance moves with her sorority sisters and the hottest Toto costume you’ve ever seen. If half the Pikes don’t wake up Friday morning in the Pi Theta Alpha house, there is no justice in this world.

Long forgotten by this point is an entertaining scrimmage by the Cougs, which the Maroon team wins 31-12, paced by All So-Con First Teamer Dontaye Draper and his 13 points. Charleston looks like everything you’d hope on the night before the first practice: eager, wanting to score, feeding off the crowd, full of energy, and enjoying the proceedings wholeheartedly.

Cremins spends both the game and the entire Skit Competition with about the same look on his face: its about half excited focus, half trying to figure out exactly what in the hell he’s watching, and just a pinch of “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.”

After the game, I asked him what it was like to be coaching again, and if the evening was everything he expected.

“Fabulous,” he repeated, “fabulous. They’ve been wonderful to us so far and I’m really surprised at the great reception we got tonight.”

When I asked him what to expect from his squad this year, he turned political, saying it was too early to guess, the team was still searching for a reliable 2 guard, and they just wanted to go out and compete. I guess that’s Cremins the Guidance Counselor, not Cremins the Marketer.

Hoops has been kind of a wasteland for me lately; the Cyclones have struggled for two years, and looked borderline disgraceful doing it. The NBA continues to bore me, and I haven’t made money in a March Madness pool since 2002. All of which means tonight was, unequivocally, a good thing.

When I left the Kresse Arena, the old coach was still standing there, gazing out on the arena, watching college kids be idiots, looking like he might stay there until they kicked him out.

Bobby Cremins is back, and so is college basketball.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Offer Makes ISU Tops With Lewis

(This article originally appeared on iowastate.rivals.com.)

Muskogee (Okla.) standout Rell Lewis is listed as an athlete in the Rivals.com database, a designation that would normally indicate a decision wouldn't be made on his future position until he arrived on campus somewhere. But according to Lewis, the Big 12 coaches recruiting him agree that he will be an offensive player in the college ranks.

Coaches from Iowa State, Missouri and Kansas have all indicated a desire to use Lewis' speed on offense, where he ran for 1,200 yards, and passed for 1400 yards, accounting for 24 TDs during his junior season at Muskogee in Oklahoma's class 6A.

To date, the Cyclones are the only school to extend an offer, and Lewis sees himself as a good fit in Barney Cotton's offensive system.

"They like to run a spread type offense," Lewis said of the Cyclones. "They like to give it to the little guys out there in the slot."

While the future for Lewis appears to be, at least at first, on offense, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Rougher QB has seen limited action this season as a cornerback or safety in certain situations. Two weeks ago, in a district clash against Jenks, Lewis was given a shot at returning kickoffs when he suffered an MCL sprain while diving for a fumble.

"It was a short kick, right at our up man, and he fumbled," Lewis recalled. "I went in there diving, trying to get the fumble, and a guy just fell right on my knee and twisted it." The sprain will have him on the sidelines for another 2 weeks, and has allowed him on to focus a little more on his college decision.

Lewis has warmed to the Cyclones' Cotton, citing him as a good coach that cares about the players under his charge. Now, the Cyclones are the first and only school on the Lewis list, but it's clear he's hoping there are more offers to come.

Lewis promises that he won't decide before season's end, but if the Cyclones' Big XII competition doesn't come through with matching offers, he will be a Cyclone.

According to Lewis, no college coach has expressed any concern that his injury might be a lingering one.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Love Likes Cyclones

(This article originally appeared on iowastate.rivals.com.)

Highly sought after Garland (Tex.) product Jermaine Love will use one of his official vists for a trip to Iowa State and said the Cyclones are still strong contenders for his services.

The no. 22 OLB on Rivals.com will visit Ames on the weekend of December 8, and that will place Dan McCarney's Cyclones in the category of schools that have officially hosted Love, along with Kansas State and Nebraska. He has made unofficial visits to both Texas Tech and Texas A&M. Love visited Lincoln Nebraska this weekend and attended the Texas/Nebraska game.

A visit to Manhattan in late September failed to launch the Wildcats in to Love's top tier of choices, despite an impressive meeting with top 'Cat Ron Prince. "He's a real cool guy, no doubt about it," said Love of Kansas State's first year head coach. "We met one on one, and he's real cool."

If deciding today, Love would face a close call between Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas Tech and Washington State, with Iowa State and Kansas State trailing close behind. However, with several weeks yet before the end of Texas football season, and Love's decision, those schools and many of the others which have offered are possibilities. Nebraska, Utah and Florida State may make late pushes, with the Utes and Huskers having recently offered, and the Seminoles expected to offer soon.

Wherever he attends, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior will come to college ahead of the game physically. Sporting an already rock-solid frame, and impressive speed for an OLB (4.48 at last summer's A&M camp), Love could be poised to make an immediate impact.

The chance to play early, however, is not on Love's list of selling points, and neither is the opportunity to play running back, which only Iowa State has offered. A wild game day atmosphere is number one on his wish list. "That's most important," Love added, "but I also want to go somewhere I feel at home, and somewhere with strong academics."

Love is coming off a 188-yards rushing, 15-tackle game versus district rival Rowlett. Now 2-1 in District 10, Love's Garland squad is in position to make a run at a district title in Texas' vaunted class 5A.