What made the Cremins years so special?

[Ramble1885]

I got to meet Bobby Cremins last week at the Louisville game. A lot of people say that the most exciting era of Tech basketball was the late 80’s and early 90’s when Cremins was at the peak of his career. I think that’s correct. The team was consistently in the tournament, and always a contender in the ACC. Made eight straight NCAA Tournaments from 85-93. Won three ACC tournaments in that stretch too.

I’m young, and I wasn’t alive then. (We’ve made three NCAAT’s in my lifetime, maybe I’m the problem lol) Apparently Tech basketball was terrible before Cremins and he gave the program a new life. What was it like to be there? Anyone got some stories? Some fun facts not a lot of folks know?

(Reason I do these special threads is to start some good old friendly conversation.)

 

[gtbeak]

My only input to this is that Tech basketball was one of the top teams in Atlanta sports at the time. The Braves stunk, the Falcons weren't very good, college football (UGa mostly, but Tech also) was probably at the top, but it wasn't nearly as rabid as it is now. The Hawks were good and Tech was good, Jordan was entering his heyday, Bird & Magic was a huge rivalry, so basketball was the new "hip" sport. Our games were top of the fold 1st page stories back then.

 

[4shotB]

I will add to the above. Cremins, like Bobby Ross with his NC in FB, did the previously unthinkable....he made us competitive in a league that was basketball centric. NO ONE thought that we would ever go toe to toe with the likes of Carolina, Duke, Wake, NC State. Before expansion, the league was uber competitive and the drama was compelling. At one time, the ACC tourney had the allure of a Masters golf tourney or a Super Bowl with tickets being as difficult, if not more so, to come by. Before the one and done era, you knew the players on every team and got to see them transform from young, raw freshmen (think Salley and Price) to highly polished veterans as seniors. Some of them were "good guys" like Rodney Rogers or Rodney Monroe and others villains (Hurley, Laettner, almost anyone in a Duke uni). The theater and drama during basketball season was unbeatable and I, like most of my Tech buddies, scheduled around the TV games. Selection weekend was as much a part of my spring season as watching the Masters or turkey hunting on days off. I miss those days but understand the genie is out of the bottle and is not returning. From the last part of Hewitt's regime until now, I bet I have watched 5 or 6 full games on TV. In Cremins' era, I would regularly watch ACC games that did not involve Tech almost as if I were scouting our league rivals. The games against Uga in the Omni were epic. The run we had with Jose and Moses was a small taste of what life was like when CBC was on the sidelines as our coach.

 

[Ramble1885]

I will add to the above. Cremins, like Bobby Ross with his NC in FB, did the previously unthinkable....he made us competitive in a league that was basketball centric. NO ONE thought that we would ever go toe to toe with the likes of Carolina, Duke, Wake, NC State. Before expansion, the league was uber competitive and the drama was compelling. At one time, the ACC tourney had the allure of a Masters golf tourney or a Super Bowl with tickets being as difficult, if not more so, to come by. Before the one and done era, you knew the players on every team and got to see them transform from young, raw freshmen (think Salley and Price) to highly polished veterans as seniors. Some of them were "good guys" like Rodney Rogers or Rodney Monroe and others villains (Hurley, Laettner, almost anyone in a Duke uni). The theater and drama during basketball season was unbeatable and I, like most of my Tech buddies, scheduled around the TV games. Selection weekend was as much a part of my spring season as watching the Masters or turkey hunting on days off. I miss those days but understand the genie is out of the bottle and is not returning. From the last part of Hewitt's regime until now, I bet I have watched 5 or 6 full games on TV. In Cremins' era, I would regularly watch ACC games that did not involve Tech almost as if I were scouting our league rivals. The games against Uga in the Omni were epic. The run we had with Jose and Moses was a small taste of what life was like when CBC was on the sidelines as our coach.

I think 80's acc basketball is the greatest decade for a single conference ever. From what I read it was amazing.

Clemson had Elden Campbell and Horace Grant, and Cliff Ellis usually had them good.
Duke was... Duke. Coach K didn't win any nattys but from what I see they were still great.
We obviously were in our heyday and were successful.
Maryland had Len Bias and before he died they were rolling.
UNC had Dean Smith, Jordan, Kenny The Jet, Worthy, etc, always winning.
NC State had Valvano and his squads.
Virginia was led by (RIP) Terry Holland and it's a shame Ralph Sampson never won a title.
Wake Forest was decent, and Muggsy Bouges played there.

THE WHOLE LEAGUE WAS STACKED.

 

[Ramble1885]

I will add to the above. Cremins, like Bobby Ross with his NC in FB, did the previously unthinkable....he made us competitive in a league that was basketball centric. NO ONE thought that we would ever go toe to toe with the likes of Carolina, Duke, Wake, NC State. Before expansion, the league was uber competitive and the drama was compelling. At one time, the ACC tourney had the allure of a Masters golf tourney or a Super Bowl with tickets being as difficult, if not more so, to come by. Before the one and done era, you knew the players on every team and got to see them transform from young, raw freshmen (think Salley and Price) to highly polished veterans as seniors. Some of them were "good guys" like Rodney Rogers or Rodney Monroe and others villains (Hurley, Laettner, almost anyone in a Duke uni). The theater and drama during basketball season was unbeatable and I, like most of my Tech buddies, scheduled around the TV games. Selection weekend was as much a part of my spring season as watching the Masters or turkey hunting on days off. I miss those days but understand the genie is out of the bottle and is not returning. From the last part of Hewitt's regime until now, I bet I have watched 5 or 6 full games on TV. In Cremins' era, I would regularly watch ACC games that did not involve Tech almost as if I were scouting our league rivals. The games against Uga in the Omni were epic. The run we had with Jose and Moses was a small taste of what life was like when CBC was on the sidelines as our coach.

For me, being a son of a UNC mom and a Tech dad. I get to see both sides of the fanbase spectrum. UNC fans expect winning, Tech fans want winning but we haven't had much in hoops lately. That 2020-21 run was amazing because, we went through so much as a team and still pushed through. Watching that selection show and seeing *Georgia Tech* on the bracket again felt so good.

Must've been great seeing us do it on a regular basis. but... WE CAN DO IT. If Saint Mary's can, we can.

 

[Buzzbomb]

I don’t know of one person that disliked Bobby. He was a lovable character, from drawing plays up on The Prices’ coffee table to answering the critics on why he only liked to play 5 or 6 guys at a time(Frank Maguire keep ‘em happy and develop that special chemistry).

 

[Ramblingon]

I am staring on my wall at a copy of the AJC sports front page, framed and signed by the 1985 team and Coach Cremins. The story tells of Tech beating UNC for the ACC title, and the tide of the ACC began slowly turning. After that Cremins brought in the cream de la cream of basketball recruits and continued to have top teams, playing few players per game. That finally caught up with him when players began leaving early. He was very likable and a great coach. Hated to see him go.

 

[UgaBlows]

I will add to the above. Cremins, like Bobby Ross with his NC in FB, did the previously unthinkable....he made us competitive in a league that was basketball centric. NO ONE thought that we would ever go toe to toe with the likes of Carolina, Duke, Wake, NC State. Before expansion, the league was uber competitive and the drama was compelling. At one time, the ACC tourney had the allure of a Masters golf tourney or a Super Bowl with tickets being as difficult, if not more so, to come by. Before the one and done era, you knew the players on every team and got to see them transform from young, raw freshmen (think Salley and Price) to highly polished veterans as seniors. Some of them were "good guys" like Rodney Rogers or Rodney Monroe and others villains (Hurley, Laettner, almost anyone in a Duke uni). The theater and drama during basketball season was unbeatable and I, like most of my Tech buddies, scheduled around the TV games. Selection weekend was as much a part of my spring season as watching the Masters or turkey hunting on days off. I miss those days but understand the genie is out of the bottle and is not returning. From the last part of Hewitt's regime until now, I bet I have watched 5 or 6 full games on TV. In Cremins' era, I would regularly watch ACC games that did not involve Tech almost as if I were scouting our league rivals. The games against Uga in the Omni were epic. The run we had with Jose and Moses was a small taste of what life was like when CBC was on the sidelines as our coach.

Man i agree and relate to/with all of this SO much! I watched every ACC game in the 90’s era possible and could name all the coaches and star players across the league, truly a golden age in ACC BB

 

[ESPNjacket]

I think 80's acc basketball is the greatest decade for a single conference ever. From what I read it was amazing.

Clemson had Elden Campbell and Horace Grant, and Cliff Ellis usually had them good.
Duke was... Duke. Coach K didn't win any nattys but from what I see they were still great.
We obviously were in our heyday and were successful.
Maryland had Len Bias and before he died they were rolling.
UNC had Dean Smith, Jordan, Kenny The Jet, Worthy, etc, always winning.
NC State had Valvano and his squads.
Virginia was led by (RIP) Terry Holland and it's a shame Ralph Sampson never won a title.
Wake Forest was decent, and Muggsy Bouges played there.

THE WHOLE LEAGUE WAS STACKED.

UNC was the best program in the country then. They went to the sweet sixteen thirteen straight years from '81-'93. It is probably more impressive that they finished 3rd or better in the ACC regular season all of those seasons. The league was very difficult. Top players stayed 3 or 4 years.

Duke and GT with K and Cremins rose quickly at the same time. GT won the ACCT in '85 and #1 Duke beat #6 GT by one in the final the next year.

The ACC games were very competitive. It was difficult for even good teams to win on the road.

College basketball was a much better game then. I still like it enough to buy season tickets but the quality is down compared to then.

 

[GTIE1979]

I lived at the TKE house in the early 80's. During one summer, John Salley (Spiderman)ived at our house. Mark Price would often come by and get him to walk to workouts at AMC. We had a basketball court and goal which was at least 15' below street level on Techwood. One day we threw Mark the ball as he walked by. He dropped a dime from 30' away in a basket 5' below his feet. A truly magic shooter.

 

[awbuzz]

It was the student body freshman class that came in the fall of 1981 with Bobby. If it wasn't for that class... Well it wouldn't have been pretty.

Seriously though in '82 and '83 I remember CBC accepting invitations to residence halls, fraternities, in just about anywhere that he would be invited on campus to discuss the program and get students involved. That dedication from coach and of course getting some special recruits helped get the scales to some great Georgia Tech basketball during the mid 80s and early '90s.

 

[bob4gt]

Cremins had a great personality and players, moms and dads all liked him. He got lucky his first year with Price and Salley; they played much better than anyone expected. After that he had a unique recruiting strategy; he would put almost all his effort into one great player - thus the string of ACC rookies of the year. If he didn't get the one player, it would have a negative effect on the team. When players started leaving early, that strategy no longer worked, hence the slide in Tech hoops. He also had very good assistant coaches and he was a better gametime coach than most people gave him credit for.

BB

 

[awbuzz]

Price and Salley came in year 2, iirc. But that was 40 + years ago so I might be fuzzy with the memory. It is so sad that it was 40 years ago! In my head it doesn't seem that far back.

 

[g0lftime]

Bobby went after a lot of NY kids and focused on his point guard. The ACC was a lot smaller and coach K had not started dominating. Dean Smith was the guy back then. Valvano had some really good teams. Maryland was really good too. Once the one and done thing started happening, it just wasn't as easy for him. Bobby had a couple of really good assistant coaches that became head coaches and I never felt their replacements were quite as good. There was a player that took his own life and I felt that it really affected Bobby. He still is the best BB coach we have had at GT.

 

[whitegoldsphinx]

Price and Salley came in year 2, iirc. But that was 40 + years ago so I might be fuzzy with the memory. It is so sad that it was 40 years ago! In my head it doesn't seem that far back.

Year 1 was Brooke Steppe coming off a missed season for knee surgery (one of the reasons Morrison's last team was so horrible is that Steppe didn't play. He was the only all-ACC caliber player on the team), several JUCO transfers (Byrd, Bradford are 2 who I remember), a freshman PG named Howard who was decent but transferred to Maryland after 1 year to play SS on their baseball team (maybe because Price was incoming?)

Cremins basically cut almost everyone from the prior year's team. He kept Lee Goza, then threw him off the team because he was a dirty player, even in practice (remember when he spit on Ralph Sampson the prior year?), but he brought him back once they came to an understanding, because he was the only serviceable big man on the roster. There was another big named Neal who he kept, but he was not very good. But compared to the bigs that were cut, he was Kareem.

That team somehow won 3 conference games (3-11) and took top seed Maryland down to the wire in the first round of the ACC tournament, which made me think Cremins was a magician (GT was 0-14 the year before, that was the worst GT team I've ever seen. No other team since then even comes close. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant, delusional, or clinically insane. Team finished 4-24 and 3 wins were against NAIA schools. I know because I worked at the home games and saw every one of them, probably the only student to do so that year). Having Steppe for his senior season was huge, as he ended up being a mid first round pick in the NBA draft. Of course, Price and Salley came in for year 2, and the rest is history.

 

[g0lftime]

Year 1 was Brooke Steppe coming off a missed season for knee surgery (one of the reasons Morrison's last team was so horrible is that Steppe didn't play. He was the only all-ACC caliber player on the team), several JUCO transfers (Byrd, Bradford are 2 who I remember), a freshman PG named Howard who was decent but transferred to Maryland after 1 year to play SS on their baseball team (maybe because Price was incoming?)

Cremins basically cut almost everyone from the prior year's team. He kept Lee Goza, then threw him off the team because he was a dirty player, even in practice (remember when he spit on Ralph Sampson the prior year?), but he brought him back once they came to an understanding, because he was the only serviceable big man on the roster. There was another big named Neal who he kept, but he was not very good. But compared to the bigs that were cut, he was Kareem.

That team somehow won 3 conference games (3-11) and took top seed Maryland down to the wire in the first round of the ACC tournament, which made me think Cremins was a magician (GT was 0-14 the year before, that was the worst GT team I've ever seen. No other team since then even comes close. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant, delusional, or clinically insane. Team finished 4-24 and 3 wins were against NAIA schools. I know because I worked at the home games and saw every one of them, probably the only student to do so that year). Having Steppe for his senior season was huge, as he ended up being a mid first round pick in the NBA draft. Of course, Price and Salley came in for year 2, and the rest is history.

Steppe was a good player. He was a transfer from Dekalb college. I was at the ACC tournament for that game in Greensboro when they hung with them for most of the game. There was one other decent player on that team. He played with his back to the basket but could turn to face the basket once he got the ball. Can't remember his name.

 

[whitegoldsphinx]

Steppe was a good player. He was a transfer from Dekalb college. I was at the ACC tournament for that game in Greensboro when they hung with them for most of the game. There was one other decent player on that team. He played with his back to the basket but could turn to face the basket once he got the ball. Can't remember his name.

If he was a big white center, it was Goza.

 

[g0lftime]

If he was a big white center, it was Goza.

Black kid. Pretty good player too. I will need to look at an old roster. I went to our first ACC tournament in Greensboro. The Tech seats were awful being a new conference member. I remember being a little ticked off that most of the people in our section were GTAA but from other schools. I suspect there just wasn't that much interest from our fans back then. I went to every game of that tournament. Greensboro wasn't as big back then and ACC tournament tickets were difficult to get. I think the arena was around 15 or 16K at the most then. Maryland and UNC were loaded back then. The ACC had some terrific players back then. My neighbor and I drove 60 miles in a snowstorm to see the Sunday championship game. May have been a different year but in that era. The ACCT doesn't mean as much now with so many teams getting bids to the NCAAT other than to hang a banner. Winner is the "official" ACC Champion.

 

[whitegoldsphinx]

Black kid. Pretty good player too. I will need to look at an old roster. I went to our first ACC tournament in Greensboro. The Tech seats were awful being a new conference member. I remember being a little ticked off that most of the people in our section were GTAA but from other schools. I suspect there just wasn't that much interest from our fans back then. I went to every game of that tournament. Greensboro wasn't as big back then and ACC tournament tickets were difficult to get. I think the arena was around 15 or 16K at the most then. Maryland and UNC were loaded back then. The ACC had some terrific players back then. My neighbor and I drove 60 miles in a snowstorm to see the Sunday championship game. May have been a different year but in that era. The ACCT doesn't mean as much now with so many teams getting bids to the NCAAT other than to hang a banner. Winner is the "official" ACC Champion.

It was probably Maurice Bradford at PF. Byrd was a SG. They were a big upgrade over the prior year's roster. Steppe was far and away the best all around player. Other than Goza and Howard previously mentioned, and maybe George Thomas, the rest of the roster was pretty weak.

 

[GTHomer]

It has been interesting reading this as it brought back memories. This is a good link to look at rosters as it also provides a means to navigate between seasons: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/georgia-tech/men/1981.html

I was there during the transition from Dwayne Morrison to Bobby Cremins. Morrison's last team was awful, with the games on tape delay. I knew many of the players from playing pickup games at the SAC. I recall going to games and 'heckling' them. I would then watch the games later and seeing some of the players turn around to tell me to keep it down. There were not many people attending the games during that season and you could sit anywhere you wanted.

I remember meeting CBC in the student center along with Coach Ben Jobe. They were trying to get the students interested in attending the games and many of us bought in. We didn't know at that time that it was the beginning of something special for GT basketball.

Another memory, the best basketball player I saw during my time was Drew Hill (yes, the wide receiver on the football team). I thought that he was better that Sammy Drummer given his incredible range. I remember playing a pickup game that had Ivon Joseph on the other team. He set a pick on me that I never forgot. He was solid and I stopped moving after the pick he set on me. I saw why he was called the 'Haitian Sensation'.

Pickup games at the SAC were fun, especially when the athletes got involved in the games.