08/24 at 10:23 PM

Auburn head women’s basketball coach Nell Fortner announced Tuesday that Kerry Cremeans has been promoted to associate head coach. Cremeans just completed her sixth season at Auburn and seventh overall as an assistant under Fortner.

“I am really pleased to be able to name Kerry my associate head coach,” said Fortner. “She is a tremendous basketball coach and there is no question she would make a fantastic head coach, if that’s what she wants to do. I am fortunate that we enjoy working together and have a great working relationship.”

“In all the years I have known Nell, she has been a great friend, a great colleague and a great boss,” said Cremeans. “It has been an honor to work with her these last six years at Auburn and it will be an even greater honor to continue working with her in the future. She has a great vision for the Auburn women’s basketball program and I am excited to be a part of it.”

Cremeans is the longest-serving of Fortner’s assistants, coming with her to Auburn in 2004.

While at Auburn, she has worked with the guards while also serving as the recruiting coordinator. During that stretch, she has helped bring in multiple top-ranked recruiting classes, including the 2005 class that brought WNBA Draft picks DeWanna Bonner and Whitney Boddie to the Plains.

“Kerry has a great knowledge and experience of the game and has been an excellent recruiter for us,” said Fortner. “I trust her implicitly and she does a tremendous job with so many things. The longevity of us working together and the friendship that comes with that is really special, so I am just very pleased to have her as my associate head coach.”

Cremeans has more than 15 years of experience as an assistant coach with more than half of those coming in the Southeastern Conference. After playing for four years at Florida, graduating in 1994, Cremeans took her first coaching position as a graduate assistant coach at Kentucky (1994-96) under current Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis.

Her first full-time position came from 1996-2003 as an assistant coach at Purdue. Initially hired by Fortner, Cremeans also served under Carolyn Peck and Kristy Curry. While working with Peck in 1999, Cremeans helped the Boilermakers to a NCAA Championship. Two years later, under Curry, Cremeans helped coach Purdue back to the NCAA Championship game, taking runner-up honors.

During her tenure at Purdue, the team won Big Ten championships in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002 while winning the Big Ten Tournament in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2003.

Cremeans returned to the SEC in 2003, serving for one season under Peck at Florida. She helped take a team that went 9-19 in the previous season to a 19-11 record and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After one season at Florida, Cremeans re-united with Fortner at Auburn. Since coming to the Plains, Cremeans has helped coach the Tigers to a 116-73 record and a SEC title in 2009, Auburn’s first conference title in 20 years.

Cremeans’ resume also includes helping nine of her former players continue their careers in the WNBA. Included in those nine are Stephanie White (Fever), Ukari Figgs (Sparks, Fire, Comets), Katie Douglas (Sun, Fever), Kelly Komara (Fever), Shereka Wright (Mercury), Vanessa Hayden (Lynx, Sparks), Bernice Mosby (Mystics), DeWanna Bonner (Mercury) and Whitney Boddie (Monarchs).

Swimming, diving announces schedule
Home meets against Texas and Florida, along with the 2011 Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championships, highlight the 2010-11 Auburn swimming and diving schedule.

The Tigers are set to compete in five dual meets this season with four of them being held at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.

“Our goal is start off on the right foot and in order to do that we want to get in shape as early as we can and start off in a positive manner,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “We have a lot of events at home this year and are not traveling as much and as far as last year. The hope is to set a foundation for the season early while we are at home and build on that foundation throughout the season.”

Auburn kicks off the season with the annual Orange & Blue meet Sept. 24 at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center as the team splits into two for an intrasquad face-off.

The Tigers open the regular season on the road, traveling to in-state rival Alabama for an SEC dual on Oct. 9. The squad closes out the month hosting LSU and Notre Dame in a team tri-meet on Oct. 22. The diving squad competes in November’s only event, traveling to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Diving Invitational, Nov. 19-21.

The team travels to Athens, Ga., for a mid-season invitational, competing at the Georgia Invitational, Dec. 3-5. The Tiger divers close out the month at the LSU Diving Invitational, Dec. 16-18, in Baton Rouge.

Auburn returns from winter training and kicks off a tough January schedule with a dual meet against Eastern Illinois on Jan. 4, while the divers travel to Knoxville for the three-day Tennessee Diving Invite, Jan. 3-5.

The Tigers follow with a home meet against the Texas Longhorns as the women’s squads face off on Jan. 13. The Auburn men will take on the defending NCAA champion Longhorns Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. The team follows with a dual meet against SEC rival Florida on Jan. 21 at home to close out the dual season.

“The meets against Texas and Florida are big meets for us every year,” Hawke said. “Competing against schools that produce some of the nation’s best teams helps build a foundation for the upcoming championship season.”

Championship season starts in the middle of February with the Southeastern Conference Championships held in Gainesville. The diving side of competition will be held Feb. 11-13, while swimming is set for Feb. 25-27. The Auburn men look to defend their SEC title again this season and capture their 15th-straight and 17th-overall conference crown.

The 2011 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are set for March 17-19 in Austin, Texas, while the men will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., March 24-26, for the men’s national meet.

Barber advances in U.S. Amateur
DUPONT, Wash. — Sophomore Blayne Barber (3-over) jumped 45 spots on Tuesday’s second round of the U.S. Amateur, shooting 73 at the Home Course.

Barber entered the second round needing to gain ground after finishing day one tied for 81st at 2-over.

Currently ranked 22nd in the Scratch Players World Amateur Golf Rankings, Barber redshirted the 2009-10 season after transferring from the University of Central Florida.

Former Auburn golfer Glenn Northcutt missed the cut for match play by one stroke, tying for 79th at 7-over. Current Auburn sophomore Michael Hebert tied for 120th at 9-over.