Tuesday 03/10/2009
March 10, 2009
As the 2008-2009 Men’s basketball regular season comes to a close, there are many reasons that all of the Clemson faithful should be proud. The Tigers (23-6) improved to 9-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the win over Virginia, guaranteeing back-to-back winning seasons in the league for just the second time in school history.
Hopefully at some point this season, you had to experience the atmosphere at Littlejohn Coliseum. Littlejohn was sold out five times this year and had four games that were within a couple hundred of selling out. When Littlejohn is packed, the atmosphere is second to none. You may have read in a previous edition of the Orange and White about EA Sports picking Clemson as one of the top 15 toughest places to play, which is a real credit to the fans, IPTAY donors, and students that have come to see the Tigers play this year. Also, many have noticed the other attractions that Mike Money in Marketing and Promotions has organized throughout the season. We have had halftime shows that are top notch, an in game host (J-Dew) that has kept the attention of fans during breaks, and an introduction on the video board that gets everyone fired up before tip-off. Also, you have heard that the decibel level record at Littlejohn this year was broken at 113 against Duke off a Jerai Grant dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy. The old record was a 112 against Wake Forest in 1997.
Obviously, everyone has been excited about what Coach Purnell and his staff has accomplished not only this year, but what they are building currently at Clemson. Ticket sales this year are up from last year and our renewal rate for this year was around 97%. This is a great indicator that IPTAY donors and Tiger fans are holding on to their tickets and are continuing to support the Basketball team. The demand for lower level seating was at an all time high this year. Three years ago, an IPTAY level of $1,400 could have secured seats in the lower level. This year, with around 100 tickets available in the lower level opening up, it took an astounding $5,600 to secure a pair in the lower level.
Some IPTAY donors have inquired about the possibility of an IPTAY Seat Equity Plan in Basketball. While going through the process with Football this past year, we did research the possibility. What we discovered is much different from Football. If we applied the same philosophy and made it consistent with the Football IPTAY Seat Equity Plan, we found that we had very few, if any, donors that were out of priority since reseating took place at Littlejohn Coliseum five years ago.
Clemson will be traveling to Atlanta March 12-15th for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. This year the tournament will be played in the Georgia Dome. You may have read about tickets being available to the public for the first time in the history of the tournament. All of the seats that went on sale to the public through the Georgia Dome were located in the upper level. We extended an opportunity to purchase ACC tournament tickets to almost every IPTAY member. Clemson received 2,600 tickets this year for the ACC tournament. This was more than double the allotment from last year in Charlotte. The price of $396 per book to attend the tournament makes it very difficult for most fans to afford. Clemson has come very close to selling the entire allotment. With only three of the twelve schools either selling their allotment or coming very close, the ACC office rearranged the seating and traded out all of the original upper level seating allotted to schools. This gave an opportunity to upgrade everyone to the 200 level instead of the 300 level in the Georgia Dome.
Our Basketball program has a bright future ahead. Let’s give Coach Purnell, his staff and player’s the support they deserve for the remainder of the season and into next year.
As we look ahead to the NCAA tournament, we have listed all the possible sites that Clemson may be playing in the NCAA tournament. The announcements will be made on the selection show Sunday, March 15. Please pay close attention to the instructions if you are interested in attending the NCAA tournament. Details on when to order your NCAA tournament tickets are included and an email will be sent to each group when it is their time slot for ordering. You can call 800-CLEMSON to order. Please note that these details are only if Clemson participates.
Possible locations are Greensboro, North Carolina, Kansas City, Missouri, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Portland, Oregon, Boise, Idaho, Dayton, Ohio, Miami, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Monday, March 16, 2009: NCAA 1st and 2nd Round
IPTAY Priority Points – Time 500 and above – 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 200-499 – 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. 50-199 – 2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
IPTAY Priority Points – Time All IPTAY donors – 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. General Public – 12:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Possible Locations are Boston, Massachusetts, Glendale, Arizona, Indianapolis, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee
Monday, March 23, 2009: NCAA Regionals
IPTAY Priority Points – Time 500 and above – 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 200-499 – 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. 5-199 – 2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Please note that all tickets will be held at will call. Times and locations for will call will be emailed to all IPTAY donors that order tickets. Prices will be released at the time each site is selected by the NCAA.
Clemson Students
Clemson students will have a limited number of tickets to purchase on Monday, March 16th from 8am-4:30pm for the NCAA 1st round.
Should Clemson advance past the first two rounds, Clemson students can purchase tickets for the regional on Monday, March 23rd, 2009.
More Details will be released online at www.clemsontigers.com once the selections have been made.
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