College of Charleston Basketball: Wiedeman's success fuels Cougars
The 19 years Bobby Cremins spent as coach at Georgia Tech has certainly had a positive effect on the College of Charleston program since Cremins returned to coaching five seasons ago. Five players on the current Charleston roster hail from the greater Atlanta area, including starters Andrew Goudelock and Jeremy Simmons.
Cremins' most recent find from Atlanta was 6-8 freshman post player Trent Wiedeman, who has become an integral part of the Cougars' seven-man playing rotation, helping Charleston to a 14-6 overall record and 7-1 start in the Southern Conference heading into today's 7 p.m. game at Georgia Southern.
Wiedeman was recruited by a number of schools, including Georgia Southern, but the deciding factor was Cremins.
"I have great respect for him. He's a really good coach," said Wiedeman, who not so surprisingly grew up a Georgia Tech fan.
Wiedeman's mother, the former LeeAnn Woodhull, is a member of the Yellow Jackets' athletic hall of fame after starring for the women's basketball team during the early 1980s. She averaged 13.6 points (1,302 total) and 8.3 rebounds (801).
"My whole life I knew who he was," Wiedeman said. "Growing up, I thought he was the best coach ever. I used to go to games and would see how much everybody liked him, what he did with that program."
Cremins has become a big fan of Wiedeman as well. Wiedeman, from Suwanee, has played 22 minutes a game, averaging 6.5 points and 5.6 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in three games and either led or tied for the team rebounding lead in seven contests.
Wiedeman said he knew he had an opportunity to earn a good share of playing time as a freshman.
"We're a young team post player-wise. Besides Jeremy, (Simmons) we're all underclassmen. It's worked out well," Wiedeman said.
Wiedeman has struggled a bit in his last four games, totaling only 13 points 11 rebounds.
"Trent Wiedeman was great in the beginning of the season, but we need him to come back on," Cremins said.
The Wiedeman Cremins would like to see is the one who recorded back-to-back double-doubles in his two starts, when Simmons was suspended.
Against Georgia Southern in early December, Wiedeman scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He followed that with an 11-point, 11-rebound performance against East Tennessee State.
"I haven't played as well as I wanted to a couple of these games, but coach Cremins has said he's proud of me. He's told me to keep doing my thing, work on the defense first and the offense will come to me," Wiedeman said.
Cremins has stressed to the team the importance of not looking beyond tonight's opponent, Georgia Southern (4-17, 0-8). The Eagles have lost eight straight games and 15 of their last 16, and Charleston had a 24-point second-half lead in their previous meeting before posting a 92-84 win.
"We know in our league anything can happen any night," Wiedeman said. "Every team in our league is good. Look at Greensboro. They didn't have the greatest start (0-15) and now they're beating almost everybody.
"Everyone understands what we could do this year and the potential we have. Everyone takes every game seriously."
Breakfast with Bobby
Cremins is hosting "Breakfast With Bobby" at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Harbour Club, located at 35 Prioleau St. in Charleston. The event is a fundraiser for Coaches vs. Cancer Week, in which coaches wear sneakers for their respective games. There will be an auction which includes tickets for the Final Four.
The Post and Courier columnist Ken Burger is the keynote speaker and guests will have an opportunity to talk with Cremins about the Cougars basketball program.
Tickets are $50 individual, $500 for a table of 10 and $750 sponsor. Call (843) 744-1922 or visit http://coaches.acsevents.org/BreakfastwithBobbyCremins.
