Clemson Athletic Year In Review

June 19, 2001

Overall Program

The Clemson sports program had 11 teams rank in the final top25, the university’s highest number of top 25 teams since the1991-92 academic year when a record 13 teams finished in the top25. Overall, it tied for the third highest number of top 25finishes in Clemson history. Clemson had 31 All-Americans in2000-01, its second highest single year total on record. The 39achieved in 1998-99 is the only figure that is higher for one year.The program could boast of 70 All-ACC selections, the highest totalsince 1989-90 when a record 82 athletes made All-ACC. The totalreached in 2000-01 is the second highest total in school history.Clemson upset the nation’s top ranked team in two different sportsduring the 2000-01 academic year. The Lady Tiger soccer teamdefeated a #1 ranked and eventual national champion North Carolinateam by a 2-1 score in October at Clemson. The Clemson men’sbasketball team upset a #1 ranked North Carolina team that had won18 straight games in February. It was just the third academic yearin Clemson history that the school had wins over top ranked teamsin two different sports. Clemson had another strong performance inspring sports as four teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation intheir respective final polls. The golf team finished second to tiefor its highest finish ever, while the women’s track team wasseventh, its highest outdoor track ranking. The baseball teamadvanced to the Super Regionals and ranked 12th in the final poll.The rowing team, in just its third year of existence, ranked 21stin the final poll. Clemson had at least two All-ACC performers on14 of its 19 teams, while nine different teams had at least twoAll-Americans. Twelve of Clemson’s 19 teams participated inpost-season play and six different teams that compete in dual matchor game competition upset at least one top 25 team. Clemson was oneof the dominant programs in the nation when it came to soccer. Bothprograms ranked in the top 10 in the nation, one of just threeprograms nationally to make that claim. The men advanced to theSweet 16, while the women advanced to the regional finals. Bothteams played host to the NCAA Tournament and combined for 12 winsover top 25 teams. Clemson had the ACC Performer of the Year inthree of the four league track meets during 2000-01. CyndonieMothersill was the ACC Track Performer of the year at the ACCoutdoor meet, while Jamine Moton was the MVP of the indoor meet.Jacey Harper was the MVP of the Indoor track meet on the men’sside. Three coaches in three different sports were named ACC Coachof the Year in 2000-01. The list included Susie Lueck (rowing), BobPollock (Indoor track) and Ray Leone (women’s soccer).

Academic Notes

Clemson was the only Division I school in the nation with twofirst-team Academic All-Americans in football. Kyle Young (center)and Chad Carson (linebacker) were both named to the CoSIDA AcademicAll-America first-team. It was the second straight year for Youngon the first team, while Carson had been a second-team selection asa sophomore. Both return to the gridiron and the classroom in 2001.Soccer All-American Mike Potempa was named a first-team AcademicAll-American. He became the first Clemson soccer player to be anAll-American in the classroom and on the field of competition inthe same year. Clemson’s student-athletes had a 2.80 GPA for thespring semester in 2001, the highest overall GPA on record. Theoverall student body had a 2.82, and the 0.02 margin between thestudent-athletes and the overall student population was thesmallest differential on record. A total of seven teams posted GPAsover 3.0 in the spring semester of 2001, the most in school historyfor a single semester. Six programs posted all-time highs forsemester GPA, including the football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer,men’s swimming, women’s swimming and rowing teams. A total of 41Clemson student-athletes received their Clemson degrees on May 11,2001. The list included seven students who had earned All-Americahonors during their playing career at Clemson. On the list ofgraduates that day were Rod Gardner (football), Kyle Young(football), John Engler (golf), Mark Lisi (men’s soccer), ShekeraWeston (women’s track), Michelle Burgher (women’s track) andCharles Allen (men’s track). A record 28 student-athletes werenamed to the President’s List (a perfect 4.0) and a record 97student-athletes made the dean’s list for the spring semester of2001. Overall, 215 student-athletes had a 3.0 GPA or better, nearly50 percent of the 441 student-athletes in the 19 varsity programsat Clemson. Lauren Henne was the recipient of theWeaver-James-Corrigan Award from the ACC for her outstandingperformance on the Clemson rowing team and in the classroom. Shewas chosen to the All-Region team as a senior. The Clemson footballteam had a 2.58 team GPA in the spring, significantly ahead of theprevious high of 2.49 set in the spring semester of 2000. TommyBowden has been the head coach at Clemson for five semesters andhis team has had five of the top six semesters on record.Thirty-seven Clemson football players made the academic honor roll,the high total among Clemson teams for the semester.

Individual Accomplishments

Clemson had two of the top seven golfers in the nationaccording to the final MasterCard rankings. John Engler finishedfourth in the final individual poll, the highest finish in historyfor a Tiger golfer, while classmate Lucas Glover was seventh. Bothgolfers were named to the United States Palmer Cup team and rankedone-two in career stroke average at the completion of theircareers. Sophomore golfer D.J. Trahan won the United States PublicLinks Championship in July of 2000. The victory earned him a spotin the 2001 Masters. He was Clemson’s top competitor at the NCAAswith a seventh-place finish. Wide receiver Rod Gardner was afirst-round draft choice, the 15th overall selection, of theWashington Redskins in the 2001 NFL draft. Gardner was a first-teamAll-American in 2000 and will always be remembered for his 50-yardreception with 10 seconds left that set up Aaron Hunt’s gamewinning field goal against South Carolina. He established Clemson’scareer reception record (166) in his final game vs. Virginia Techin the Gator Bowl Keith Adams was a first-team All-American byAssociated Press and was one of three finalists for the ButkusAward. The linebacker was also one of five finalists for theBednarik Award, which is given to the top defensive player incollege football. Cydonie Mothersill was a two-time NationalChampion for the academic year. She won the 200 meters indoors,then was a member of the 4X400 relay team that won the NCAA Outdoorchampionships. She was named the outdoor track NCAA RegionalAthlete of the Year as well. She established school records in fiveevents, indoor or outdoor combined. Mothersill teamed with MichelleBurgher, Marcia Smith and Shekera Weston in winning the nationalchampionship in the 4X400 relay at the NCAA outdoor championshipsin Oregon. Lindsay Browne was named the National Freshman of theYear (Soccer America) and the ACC Freshman of the Year. She led theLady Tigers in goals with 13 and in points scored with 38. MarkLisi was a first-team All-American and number-three selection ofthe MLS draft by DC United. Lisi’s number-three selection was thesecond highest choice by a Clemson athlete in any sport, trailingonly Kris Benson, who was the top pick of the 1996 Major LeagueBaseball Draft. The 2001 Clemson graduate scored the winning goalfor D.C. United in each of his first two games at the professionallevel. Jamine Moton finished second at the NCAA outdoor meet in theshot put. She also had an All-America performance in two events atthe indoor meet. Additionally, she was named the ACC Indoor MeetMVP as she was the ACC champion in three events. She later won twoevents at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Chrissy Floyd was namedto the 2001 United States World University Games team. Floyd wasnamed one of the top 10 players in the ACC and led the league infree throw shooting. She was also named to the Kodak All-Regionteam. Will Solomon was ranked as the sixth best player in the ACCfor the second year in a row. He became the first Clemson men’sbasketball player to be named first or second-team All-ACC as asophomore and junior sinceTree Rollins (1975-76). Solomon set 15Clemson records over the last two years, including consecutivedouble figure scoring games with 52 in a row. Lucy Doolittle becameClemson’s first-ever rowing All-American. She was a first-teamselection.

Team Accomplishments

The Clemson football team ranked 14th in the final USA TodayCoaches poll, the highest final team ranking since 1991. TommyBowden’s team won nine regular season games, also a high since1991. The team won its first eight games and was ranked as high as#3 in the nation. Six different Clemson football players werefinalists or semifinalists for national position awards, the mostfor a single team in school history. Four different players earnedselection to various All-America teams and six were namedfirst-team All-ACC most since 1991. The Tiger golf team finishedsecond at the NCAA national tournament in Durham, NC, the highestfinish by a Clemson program in 2000-01. That tied for the highestfinish in Clemson golf history, and it was the third time in thelast five years that Clemson ranked in the top five in the country.The team finished in the top five in all 13 of its tournaments,just the second time the Tigers had done that. Clemson ranked inthe top five in the nation in every poll in 2000-01 and has astreak of 62 straight top 5 rankings entering 2001-02. Lucas Gloverand John Engler were both named first-team All-Americans for thesecond time in their careers. The men’s basketball team defeated #1ranked North Carolina in February, ending the nation’s longestwinning streak at 18 games. It marked the second time in schoolhistory that Clemson had upset the nation’s top ranked team. WillSolomon was named to the NCAA All-District team and was asecond-team All-ACC selection. Clemson was the only school with twoselections on the ACC All-Rookie team (Tony Stockman, Chris Hobbs).The baseball team advanced to the Super Regional of the NCAATournament (final 16), one of six schools to do it for the thirdstraight year. Clemson was chosen for the tournament for the 15thstraight year and won at least 40 games for the 16th consecutiveyear. Jeff Baker led the ACC in home runs with 23 (one off theClemson record) and was named to many All-America teams. Steve Rebawas a third-team All-American and a first-team All-ACC pitcher ashe won 12 games, most in the league. The Tigers were 13th in thefinal Collegiate Baseball poll The Clemson women’s basketball teamadvanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in the last 14years under Coach Jim Davis. The Lady Tigers were ranked 22nd inthe final AP poll, the 12th time in 14 years that Clemson has beenamong the top 25 in the nation. Chrissy Floyd and Erin Batth wereAll-ACC selections. Batth became the first Lady Tiger to be draftedby the WNBA. The women’s soccer team upset seven top 25 teams in2000, more than any other year in its history. The Lady Tigers wereranked fifth in the final poll after reaching the Final Eight ofthe NCAA Tournament. Clemson won the ACC regular seasonchampionship, ahead of eventual national champion North Carolina,who the Lady Tigers defeated for the first time. A record four LadyTigers were named to some All-America team and five were drafted bythe women’s professional league. Goalkeeper Katie Carson was ninthin the nation in fewest goals allowed. The men’s soccer teamfinished eighth in the nation in the final ranking with a 14-4-2record. Trevor Adair’s team played the nation’s toughest scheduleand had two All-Americans, two academic All-Americans and fourAll-ACC selections. Clemson had three players drafted by the MLSled by Mark Lisi. Lisi ranked fifth in the nation in points pergame, 10th in goals per game. Three current Clemson players werechosen to the United States junior national team. Women’s track andfield coach Marcia Fletcher-Noad had one of the most outstandingrookie coaching seasons in Clemson athletics history. The LadyTigers ranked third in the nation at the NCAA Indoor meet andseventh at the outdoor meet. It marked the first time in Clemsonwomen’s track and field history that the Lady Tigers finished inthe top 10 indoors and outdoors in the same year. The rankings werealso the highest at each meet in the history of the school.Clemson’s men’s track program won the ACC championship at theindoor and outdoor meets. Jacey Harper was the MVP of the indoorACC Championships as he won the 100 and the 200 meters indoors.Larry Griffin was the ACC Rookie of the Year for the indoor season.The Tigers had three All-Americans at the outdoor meet and twoindoors, where they finished 20th in the nation. Seven differentathletes won ACC championships at the outdoor meet. Clemson’srowing team was in just its third season, but had a banner year.Susie Lueck was named the ACC Coach of the Year and the RegionalCoach of the Year, making her one of five finalists for nationalhonors. The team was ranked as high as 15th in the nation at onepoint before finishing with a #21 ranking. The team won the SouthRegion championship. Its Varsity 8+ boat was named the ACC Crew ofthe Year and the Varsity 4+ won the ACC Championship. LucyDoolittle became the sports first All-American. The men’s tennisteam went from the play-in match to the championship match at theACC Championships in April before losing to a top 10 Duke team.Josh Goffi was a first-team All-ACC performer and led the Tigers intheir unprecedented run at the ACC Tournament. The Lady Tigerstennis team was led by Ana Stiglic, who posted a 16-6 record indual matches and an overall 22-12 mark in singles play. The women’sswimming program was ranked 21st in the nation in the final coachespoll, its highest ranking since 1991-92. Four Lady Tigers, MandyCommons, Patty Hider, Elise Thieler and Lindsey Kroeger werehonorable mention All-Americans. Diver Elise Thieler was an ACCChampion. The men’s swimming team had another winning record underBruce Marchionda and featured ACC Champion Matt Wilson. Diver CraigThomas joined Wilson on the All-ACC team. The volleyball team wasled by Jodi Steffes, who was a first-team All-Region selection. Therising junior had a .310 hitting percentage including .300 in theACC. Jessie Betcher ranked among the ACC leaders in assists/game,helping Clemson to victories over perennially strong programsAuburn, Wake Forest, Duke and Georgia.