Georgia Tech

Bobby Cremins's on-again, off-again decision to return to South Carolina is off - again. In a stunning reversal just three days after he resigned from Georgia Tech to coach basketball at his alma mater, Cremins announced Saturday morning that he was shunning the Gamecocks to return to Georgia Tech. "I made a mistake and this is the most embarrassing moment of my life," Cremins said in a statement. "The South Carolina welcome reception and press conference was beyond belief.

Scott Blair kicked a 36-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining and No. 15 Georgia Tech defeated visiting Clemson, 30-27, after squandering a 24-point lead last night. Clemson (1-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 27 straight points, taking its first lead of the night on Richard Jackson's 53-yard field goal with 11:33 to go. But Georgia Tech, which did nothing offensively through most of the second and third quarters, finally came back to life. The Yellow Jackets (2-0, 1-0)

The refrigerator was always full, but Stephon Marbury wondered, many times, how long it would stay that way. Growing up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, he wasn't alone in those thoughts. Take the Cyclone roller coaster away from the Coney Island amusement park and the only things noteworthy about Marbury's neighborhood came off the 11 o'clock news a few times a week. Drugs. Crack addicts and dealers. Crime, violence and death. Marbury, a Georgia Tech freshman guard, has lived among it all for 18 years, hoping one day to find a way out of the projects, where life is harsh, a daily struggle.

West Chester East offensive tackle Jesse Moody has had this dream since elementary school. He maintained it while he played football in junior high. He still had it through his three years as a varsity player at West Chester East. Now, after making an oral commitment recently to play football at Georgia Tech, the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Moody is one step closer to that goal. Moody wants to be an aerospace engineer. Football gave him a way to inch closer to that goal.

The team that is also known as the Ramblin' Wreck left Kansas and its legions of basketball fans in shambles yesterday in the NCAA St. Louis Regional final at the Edward Jones Dome. Georgia Tech, the Atlantic Coast Conference team coached by former Villanova assistant Paul Hewitt, answered every challenge the tradition-rich Jayhawks had to offer and wound up cutting down the nets after a 79-71 victory that required overtime. With the win, the Yellow Jackets (27-9) advanced to the Final Four, which will begin Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

No wild game this time. Led by George Godsey, No. 24 Georgia Tech piled up 627 yards, the second-most in school history. The defense, meanwhile, picked up its first shutout since 1993. The result was a dominating 35-0 victory over visiting Virginia last night, ending a streak of thrilling games between the Atlantic Coast Conference rivals. The previous four meetings between these teams were decided by a total of 20 points, each team winning twice. "They should just put us in the national championship game," said Tech receiver Kelly Campbell, who had a 50-yard touchdown run and caught a 33-yard scoring pass.

Iowa solved Georgia Tech's explosive triple option and Ricky Stanzi threw two touchdown passes last night as the 10th-ranked Hawkeyes posted a 24-14 victory in the coldest Orange Bowl ever. Temperature at kickoff in Miami's Land Shark Stadium was 49 degrees, and Tech's offense was slow to warm up. The ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets averaged 35 points during the regular season, but their only score in the first three quarters came on Jerrard Tarrant's 40-yard interception return. "This was Hawkeye weather," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Jason Varitek's fourth RBI of the game opened Georgia Tech's eight-run 10th inning, and the Yellow Jackets beat Florida State, 12-4, yesterday in the second round of the College World Series at Omaha, Neb. Matt Saier hit a grand slam later in the inning to lift Georgia Tech (49-16) to the second win of its first CWS appearance. Varitek, Baseball America's player of the year, hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Yellow Jackets a 4-1 lead. In a game last night, Fullerton State scored a record-tying 11 runs in the first inning and went on to eliminate defending champion Louisiana State, 20-6.

Sean Gibel knows by heart his father's advice on rowing, that he must have the will to keep pressing and never slow down, regardless of how tired he is or his boat's standing in a race. "Whenever I faltered, he was there to say, 'Keep going,' " said Gibel, the senior stroke for Georgia Tech's heavyweight eight boat. Sadly, Gibel won't be hearing those words from his father when the Yellow Jackets compete this weekend in the 74th Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta. Paul Gibel, 46, a star oarsman for Temple in the mid-1980s, died on April 6 after a three-year battle with cancer.

BOBBY CREMINS said this time he is stepping down for good. Nearly 2 months after taking a medical leave of absence as the College of Charleston coach, an emotional Cremins announced yesterday he was retiring from the game. But he struggled to get the words out. The coach's voice cracked and he fought back tears as he addressed players, friends and administrators on the floor of TD Arena, the Cougars' homecourt. The 64-year-old Cremins announced on Jan. 27 that he would miss the rest of the season and later said he was physically exhausted.

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Rec   Pts   Pr 1. Baylor (39) 34-0   975   1    2. Stanford 31-1   927   2    3. UConn 29-4   880   4    4. Notre Dame 30-3   873   3    5. Maryland 28-4   821   5    6. Duke 24-5   743   6    7. Delaware 30-1   723   7    8. Miami 25-5   678   8    9. Tennessee 24-8   664   9    10. Green Bay 30-1   618   10    11. Penn St. 24-6   581   11    12. Kentucky 25-6   554   12    13. Purdue 23-8   481   14    14. St. John's 22-9   458   13    15. Georgia Tech 24-8   427   15    16. Ohio St. 25-6   360   17    17. Georgetown 22-8   263   18    (tie)

ALL DREXEL CAN do this weekend is root for the chalks to win out. It's getting crowded in Bubbleville and the Dragons don't need any more company from midlevel teams making a late run. Some of those schools will start today as six more conferences begin postseason tournaments. Among the teams Drexel needs to lose early are North Carolina State, Northwestern, Tennessee and Colorado State. On the opposite end, the Dragons need Nevada to win the WAC. There are all forms of madness this time of year.

Devereaux Peters had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks to lead third-ranked Notre Dame (29-2) to a 69-54 win over DePaul in the Big East quarterfinals in Hartford, Conn., on Sunday. Notre Dame will face West Virginia (23-8) in Monday's semifinal, after the Mountaineers upended No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32. Maryland 68, Georgia Tech 65 - Alyssa Thomas scored 29 points and the No. 6 Terrapins (28-4) beat the No. 15 Yellow Jackets (24-8) to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Purdue 74, Nebraska 70 - KK Houser had 19 points to lead the No. 21 Boilermakers (23-8)