Cremins was three times the ACC "Coach of the Year": In 1983 with the first ever Yellow Jackets' ACC tournament victory, and an overall 13–15 won/loss record; again in 1985, and again in 1996 when his team posted a 24–12 record, won the ACC regular-season championship with a 13–3 record (only the second time in 15 years that a team from North Carolina had not won at least a share of the title), and progressed to the NCAA Basketball Tournament's "Sweet 16" before losing to Cincinnati. Cremins' coaching of the 1990 Yellow Jackets' team earned him the Naismith College Coach of the Year honor.