ONLY ON 3: Cremins spoke with UNCW’s Mehrtens about Byington

BOLIVIA — There’s a lot of buzz about the possibility of former UNCW basketball player Mark Byington getting the head coaching job at his alma mater. His current boss hopes he gets it.

“It takes guts for an AD or a chancellor to hire someone who has never been a head coach, but Mark Byington could be a diamond in the rough and be a superstar at UNCW,” College of Charleston head coach Bobby Cremmins said during a visit to Brunswick Community College for a fundraiser Tuesday morning. Byington is currently the top assistant at Charleston under Cremins, who also coached at Georgia Tech and Appalachian State.

Cremins, who coached Georgia Tech to the 1990 Final Four the same year he won national Coach of the Year honors, said he has talked with UNCW athletic director Kelly Mehrtens about Byington.

“He’s got what it takes to be an outstanding head coach,” Cremins said about his protege. “You never know, because nothing is a guarantee. Mark is currently sweating out the search process. Hopefully he’s a serious candidate, but we’re not sure because it tends to change day to day. At the College of Charleston we’re really hoping that he gets the job at Wilmington.”

WWAY’s John Rendleman spoke at length with Cremins after the breakfast. You can see more of that interview tonight on WWAY NewsChannel 3 starting at 5 p.m. and here on wwaytv3.com. Just click on the play video icon to see the interview.

John also interviewed former UNCW AD Mike Capaccio about getting Cremins to come to Brunswick Community College to speak. Capaccio was responsible for getting Cremins to the BCC campus on Tuesday. Capaccio even gave his perspective of the UNCW coaching search.