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The University of Denver named former Auburn associate head coach Kerry Cremeans the new head coach of the Pioneer women’s basketball program Wednesday.
Cremeans becomes the ninth coach since the inception of the women’s program in 1974, succeeding former head coach Erik Johnson, who left Denver for Boston College less than two weeks ago.
“I am so excited to embark on this wonderful adventure ahead of us,” said Cremeans on Thursday. “When I began the interview process, I wanted to find a school that had wonderful people, wonderful teams and a wonderful administration that strives for excellence. I believe this is the perfect spot for me.”
Cremeans has more than 18 years of coaching experience, including the past eight seasons at Auburn, as well as seven years as the top recruiter at Purdue. Most notably, she was on Purdue’s staff in 1999, when the team went 34-1 overall and won the national championship under legendary head coach Nell Fortner.
In 2000, Cremeans signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, which won the Big Ten tournament in 2000 and 2003, along with winning the conference in the regular season in 2001 and 2002.
Cremeans also coached at Kentucky, as well as her alma mater, Florida, where she was a four-year basketball letterwinner and led the Gators to their first two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. She left the school as the all-time leader in three-pointers made.
Throughout her career, Cremeans has coached 10 different teams to NCAA appearances, winning five conference championships along the way in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Big Ten conferences.
“Coaching in the SEC and the Big Ten has been a great experience because they are very athletic conferences,” said Cremeans. “I hope that I can bring my experience from those conferences to the West Coast, and in particular, the WAC.”
Both the team and the coach will be starting anew in the fall next season. As Cremeans adjusts to her first season as a head coach, the team will also adjust as they enter their first season in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) after departing from the Sun Belt Conference this past season.
In addition, Cremeans inherits a winning program at DU, as the Pioneers have recorded back-to-back 19-win seasons in addition to advancing to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in 2011.
“The championship mentality is here,” said Cremeans. “The foundation that has been built here is amazing. I give a lot of credit to the previous staff and their kids, because this is a program that knows how to win heading into the WAC, which is exciting, because we can compete for the championship right away.”
Cremeans said her first goal is to make a difference in the program, reaching out and communicating constantly with the DU community, the school and its fan base.
“Making a difference in the community immediately is part of getting DU to the NCAA tournament one day,” said Cremeans.
Meet the other newcomers
Cremeans has overhauled the program entirely with a new staff, introducing three assistants last week as well as the new director of basketball operations.
Her top assistant will be Seth Kushkin, who brings with him a variety of experience, including jobs at Ohio St. and Georgia, in addition to working with Cremeans at Purdue and Auburn.
Most recently, Kushkin has been serving as athletic director at the Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
“He’s been out of college for some time now,” Cremeans said. “But he has a phenomenal basketball mind and understands the X’s and O’s of the game extremely well.”
Joining Kushkin on staff is Ashley Langford, who will serve as the top recruiter. Cremeans said Langford has already hit the road and will be recruiting over the next two weeks.
Langford served as a graduate assistant at Auburn this past season, completing her MBA in 2011. Last season, she was an assistant coach at Bucknell University. She previously played basketball at Tulane University, where she was the team’s point guard.
“Ashley is young, but she understands the process and is an excellent evaluator of talent,” said Cremeans. “She actually hasn’t stepped on campus yet because she’s so busy.”
While Kushkin and Langford provide tons of experience to the revamped coaching staff, Colorado native and former All-American Abby Waner will highlight Cremeans staff, despite her lack of coaching experience.
Waner left her analyst job at ESPN for a chance to coach, returning to her home state, where she led Thunder Ridge High School to three Class 5A state basketball championships. She was named Colorado Miss Basketball in 2004 and 2005 and Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year in 2004, when she led the state in scoring.
In high school, she recorded a 92-8 record and earned the Morgan Wooten Award, given to the McDonald’s National Player of the Year following her senior season.
She went on to play at Duke in college, where she became only the fifth player in ACC history to notch over 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 300 steals.
“Abby is a grand slam for us,” said Cremeans. “She has tons of experience around the sports, but most importantly, she is the face of Colorado’s women’s basketball. She is well connected, and that makes it easy for her to sell DU basketball.”
Cremeans said Waner is read to make an “instant impact” on the program by establishing respect from all in-state players.
“She will make her presence be known, especially in Colorado,” said Cremeans.
The last member of the new staff is Wesley Kitchens, who will serve as the director of basketball operations. Kitchens most recently worked as the video coordinator at Auburn, where he also did scouting and recruiting work, according to Cremeans.
“Wesley has been working his way up the ladder, so to speak,” said Cremeans. “He knows how to manage a lot, which is a good thing whenever you’re branding a program.”
As for the players Johnson recruited during his tenure at DU, Cremeans said she hasn’t heard anything different about their commitment to DU. She said the staff is still evaluating for the class of 2013, but this year’s fall class remains intact with four incoming freshmen expected to join the program.
“I left all four of them voicemails last night so they could hear my voice,” said Cremeans. “I plan on talking to them and their parents personally once everything calms down here.”
While the program receives a makeover, the move has garnished national attention, including a welcoming from legendary head coach Pat Summitt, the all-time leader in NCAA victories amongst men’s and women’s basketball coaches and eight-time national champion.
“The University of Denver has made a great hire naming Kerry Cremeans as its new head coach,” said Summitt, who stepped down as head coach at the University of Tennessee last week. “Throughout her career, first as a student-athlete at the University of Florida, as a young coach at Florida and Purdue until her recent tenure as the associate head coach at Auburn University, Kerry has been fully invested in taking the women’s game to greater heights.”
