| | The NCAA Tournament selection committee gave the ACC a raw deal, says newly-retired Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins.
Cremins, a recent guest on ESPN's Up Close, told Gary Miller that Virginia should have joined Duke, Maryland and North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament field of 64. As a result, Cremins feels, Virginia and the conference as a whole were slighted.
Cremins also discussed how Duke's dominance has inadvertently damaged the conference, and he talked about his plans for the future. An edited transcript of Cremins' March 13 comments follows.
Miller: For the second straight year just three ACC teams made the NCAA tournament, how do you feel about that?
Cremins: I'm really upset about that, Gary. This league has produced more NCAA wins than any other conference, more Final Fours, and myself and all the coaches are really upset of the disrespect the ACC is getting. I cannot believe Virginia is not in the tournament. Pete Gillen did a fabulous job there. Either we've got to add some more teams, which I think we should do, maybe make it 72, and somehow get these teams in. Two years in a row, if you had told me only three teams would go to the NCAA from the ACC, I would not have believed it. Again, St. Louis and Arkansas probably took two slots away, but the ACC deserves more respect.
Miller: Where does the ACC stand now in power?
|  | | Bobby Cremins says the NCAA needs a little more respect for the ACC. |
Cremins: Well, I still believe it's up there. The ACC has been hurt internally by the Duke factor. My good friend Mike Krzyzewski, he took his program to a complete other climate. It's ridiculous how good Duke is, and we thought in some ways, Gary, that would help us, but it actually hurt us. But Mike's program, it's ridiculous, he just beats everybody up, and I'm going to give him a hard time now that I'm out of coaching, because he put some good losses on me. But he's a great guy and he's a great coach. He did a wonderful thing for me after I resigned, the next game he wore a gold tie and a blue shirt, something I will always remember, as so many other coaches did so many nice things.
Miller: He owes you at least that after all the drubbings he gave you right? (laughing)
Cremins: (Laughing) We used to split with him all the time, we had some great games, but I'll get him back.
Miller: Talk to me about the ACC coaching fraternity in the early days.
Cremins: It was great, a lot of young coaches, Mike (Krzyzewski), Jimmy V (Valvano), myself, we were really excited to be in the league, and we had a lot of fun. Then we had some of the old guys, like (Maryland coach) Lefty Driessel. Lefty said one time, when Dean (Smith) got up and went to the restroom he said, "We got to get that guy." And I said, "Why do we got to get him?" And he said, "You're young, you'll understand." Dean Smith set the bar in the ACC, and once you beat North Carolina and Dean Smith you were accepted. Now the bar's set by Mike, and I outlasted Dean and I wanted to stay in the league until Dean retired, and I was hoping maybe Mike and I would go at the same time, but Mike has taken his program, again, to a complete other level. But the early years were great. I played in the ACC at my alma mater for Frank McGuire, a coach I dearly loved, and the ACC will be back. To me it's still the best conference, it set the bar that so many other conferences (had to) follow suit. ACC basketball, you look at the great players, the number of wins, the ACC will be back and they deserve more than three teams in the big dance.
Miller: What are those recruiting wars like? You're going after the biggest names in the country and you get some and you lose some...
Cremins: They were amazing. The Kenny Anderson stories, the Stephon Marbury stories, and they always come down to the last 48 hours, and you're so intense, you don't want anyone touching the phone, and as soon as it rings you jump up, and once you get a great player like a Kenny Anderson, you just know now you're going to have your program back. Gary, we've got to do something about this NBA issue. Kids are leaving too early. When it first started, it was 42 and guess what it was last year, 40. We were hoping the numbers would go down to the teens, and there's too many players leaving who are not ready. I would love to see something implemented where a young man has to stay at least two years.
Miller: Do you think that's possible? Everyone wants that, but it doesn't happen...
Cremins: It needs to happen. Again, had the numbers gone down I would say let it go, but the numbers continue, and these kids today, as soon as they have a good game, boom. And then you have the agent factor. You see what happened to Auburn. As soon as they enter college it's, "You gotta get to the NBA, You gotta get to the NBA." Somebody's in their ear right away and it's wrong. You look at the facts, you see so many players out there who are drafted, who are sitting at the end of benches who are not ready to play...
Miller: Who do you think will be your successor in Atlanta? Is (current assistant and former Georgia Tech player) Mark Price taking over as head coach a possibility?
Cremins: No, Mark's not ready. He told me himself that he wanted to learn under another coach, another system. I am totally away from who my successor will be. But I mean this sincerely, Gary, because of the kids we recruited, the returning players, I hope they get a great guy. Someday I'll go back to Georgia Tech but when I do, I want to see a great basketball team. For the time being, I'm going to totally separate myself from Georgia Tech and let them go on, and I'll go forward. Again, I'll go back at the right time.
Miller: Have you coached your last game?
Cremins: Well, coaching is a passion of mine. I'm going to enjoy life. I really want to have some fun, and I want to see what opportunities arise. You may see me coaching again and if you do it'll be for the right reasons because I'm not going to go back to coaching just for the sake of coaching.
Miller: I think we're going to see you on television quite a bit in the interim, aren't we?
Cremins: Well I don't know. Again, if some of those opportunities keep me close to the game, then I'll do them, but if not, I'll enjoy life.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Coaching legends Bobby Cremins and Don Shula both expressed their views on Up Close recently.
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