Bobby Cremins accomplished almost everything in his twenty years at Georgia Tech. He won the conference regular season title. He won the league tournament multiple times. He was coach of the year three times in the ACC. He coached in the Final Four and put multiple players in the NBA.
His time at Tech ended before conference expansion, but he hated the idea of Syracuse and other schools being added to his ACC.
“I hated conference expansion,” he said in¬†the league-produced A Cut Above. “Now I love it. To see the teams in the ACC now. You see Duke play at Syracuse. You see the Carrier Dome. They break all types of attendance records. You got Rick Pitino, Long Island, New York guy. Jimmy Larranaga, a Bronx guy coaching Miami. 15 teams I thought was crazy. Now I love every game, I love the exposure. I love coming to New York to play the tournament. I think we have the best league in America today.”
I can’t blame him. When Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech bolted the Big East I thought it was lame. I hated seeing the break up of the conference like Pangea. I still have a hard time embracing SU playing NC State in a league game. I still go to the Big East Tournament every year out of nostalgia.
But at least it’s nice to see a guy like Cremins¬†embrace the Orange. Let’s face it, any basketball league is better with SU, Boeheim, and the incredible crowds at the Dome. We’re like the bacon of college basketball. It’s good with everything. I’m interested to see how the ACC Tourney in Brooklyn is. It’ll feel different (way different). But the relative intimacy of the building and urban setting, along with a huge SU contingent, should make for a cool vibe.
