CHARLESTON, S.C. — College of Charleston men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins decided to take a medical leave of absence effective Friday. Associate Head Coach Mark Byington has been appointed as interim head coach.

The news release did not say what the reason for the medical leave was. Cremins, who coached at Appalachian State from 1975-81, did not coach in the Cougars' 68-59 home loss to South Division rival Wofford Saturday.

"I have decided to step aside to take a medical leave of absence,” Cremins said in a news release. “I have asked our athletic director, Joe Hull, to turn the team over to our associate head coach Mark Byington. Mark is an outstanding young man and basketball coach. I have complete faith in him as do our players. Being able to come back and coach at the College of Charleston has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I hope everybody will continue to support our team and Mark."

"What a great gentleman Bobby Cremins is," Hull said in a news release. "He consistently puts the needs of others above his own. In this instance, I hope everyone will respect Coach's privacy as he needs to look after himself and get well. We will miss Bobby as he recovers.”

There was no word when Cremins might return.

"In the meantime, I am confident coach Byington and our team will close out the season with a strong run. Our goal is to win the Southern Conference championship and that is where our primary focus will be."

Cremins, who is in his sixth season, has compiled a 125-68 (.648) record with the Cougars and 579-375 (.607) overall record in 31 years as a Division I head coach and currently ranks among the top 15 active coaches in career victories.

Cremins was 100-70 overall at Appalachian State, 51-31 in SoCon games. He led the Mountaineers to the NCAA tournament in 1978.

"Our team's thoughts are with coach Cremins as he made this decision, which was the best for his health and happiness," Byington said. "As everyone knows, there is not a nicer, more generous, or caring person in the world than coach Cremins. The world needs people like coach Cremins, so we need to let him get better.”

Byington has been Cremins' top assistant for the last six years and has coached nine years overall at College of Charleston as a member of former head coach Tom Herrion's coaching staff from 2002-04 and 2005-06.