College of Charleston to hire Wojcik as men’s basketball coach

Doug Wojcik, who was fired after six consecutive winning seasons at Tulsa, will be introduced as the new College of Charleston men’s basketball coach. A press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Wojcik will replace Bobby Cremins, who took a medical leave of absence Jan. 27. The Cougars started the season 10-2 but were 12-8 when Cremins stepped aside. Associate head coach Mark Byington guided the team to a 7-4 record the remainder of the season and was a finalist for the position.

Cremins officially announced his retirement March 19, but he will remain with the school in a relationship-building and fundraising capacity.

Attempts Saturday to reach Cremins and Byington were unsuccessful.

School president Dr. George Benson said in a news release announcing Wojcik’s hire that the former Tulsa coach stood out among a strong list of candidates.

“Doug has had success at every level throughout his career, as a player, an assistant and a head coach,” Benson said.

“More importantly, as a head coach, he has run a clean program, and has done so over many years at a university with an excellent academic reputation. Doug has been strongly recommended to us by some of the most successful coaches in college basketball. We believe Doug is an excellent fit for the College of Charleston.”

Wojcik had a 140-92 record in seven seasons at Tulsa and led the team to the National Invitation Tournament twice. The Golden Hurricane won the 2008 College Basketball Insider (CBI) tournament. Tulsa finished 17-14 last season and 10-6 in Conference USA. The school fired Wojcik and hired former Kansas star Danny Manning. Wojcik’s 140 victories are the most in Tulsa history, passing Clarence Iba (139) and Nolan Richardson (119).

In the College of Charleston news release, Wojcik called the job a “dream come true.”

“This is an exciting time for my family and me to be the head coach at the College of Charleston,” Wojcik said. “ It is a great job, in a great city with a great basketball history with Coach (John) Kresse and Coach (Bobby) Cremins as well as a great group of student-athletes coming back next season. My family and I look forward to being heavily involved with the college and Charleston community. I appreciate President Benson and athletics director Joe Hull for this wonderful opportunity to continue to build on Charleston’s rich basketball tradition.”

During his seven-year tenure at Tulsa, all 17 of his senior players graduated.

Wojcik attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1983-86 and played point guard on teams with former NBA star David Robinson. He spent nine seasons as an assistant at Navy, one year at Notre Dame, three years at North Carolina and was at Michigan State for two seasons, the second year as associate head coach, before taking the Tulsa job. He replaced John Phillips, who was replaced after a 2-5 start in his third year. Phillips is now the radio voice of Tulsa.

“We are thrilled to have Doug Wojcik as our new head coach,” Hull said. “Doug is energetic, smart and passionate about the game of basketball and the young men who play it. Our goal is to have a championship program at the College and Doug shares that vision. We will work every day to bring the Southern Conference championship back to Charleston.”