June 18, 2007
Clemson had eight of its sports programs finish in the national top 25 of their respective sports, the most top 25 programs since the 2001-02 academic year when the program had nine. The men’s soccer team had the highest final ranking with a 9th by Soccer America. The women’s tennis team had the highest final ranking among women’s sports with an 11th. The baseball team was 12th in a final poll, the men’s golf team was 12th in the final Sagarin computer ranking. The women’s soccer was 14th, men’s indoor track 15th, men’s tennis 23rd and men’s outdoor track 25th. (It should be noted that the women’s soccer team had the best NCAA Tournament finish as Todd Bramble’s team reached the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament.)
Ten of a possible 11 programs had a winning season in dual match competition and nine of the 11 won at least two-thirds of their games/matches.
Clemson had four different sports programs reach the Final 16 of their respective sports NCAA Tournaments. Those sports were women’s soccer (Final Eight), men’s soccer (Final 16), baseball (Final 16) and women’s Tennis (final 16).
Clemson won at least 60 percent of its football, men’s basketball and baseball games in the same academic year for the first time since the 1995-96 academic year.
Clemson has now been to postseason play in football, basketball and baseball in consecutive seasons. It marks the first time the program has done that in consecutive seasons since the 1995-97 through 1997-98 era.
The men’s basketball program (25) and the men’s tennis program (31) tied school records for wins in a season. The women’s swimming program had 10 victories, its second highest total in the last 19 years.
Clemson’s women’s soccer team advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament by winning three matches on penalty kicks. Clemson became the first school in the history of the NCAA Women’s tournament to win three consecutive NCAA Tournament matches on penalty kicks. Goal keeper Ashley Phillips earned third team All-America honors.
The men’s soccer team was ranked in the top 10 in all but one poll during the season by the Coaches Association, and upset top ranked Maryland and second ranked Duke during the season. Dane Richards was named a second-team All-American.
The women’s tennis team finished with a 22-4 record, including eight wins over top 25 program. Clemson was the only program in the nation to defeat NCAA champion Georgia Tech and NCAA runner-up UCLA during the regular season.
The Clemson baseball team advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 21st consecutive year, the third longest active streak in the nation. It had 11 wins over top 25 teams, including three wins over top 10 Florida State teams in four games.
The Clemson golf team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th consecutive year, the longest streak of NCAA appearances in Clemson athletic history.
The Clemson football team reached a national ranking of #10 after a 7-1 start to the season. The Tiger program played host to ESPN’s College Gameday for the first time in history the day it defeated 13th ranked Georgia Tech, 31-7. Clemson was 2-0 vs. Top 15 teams in 2007.
Clemson defeated ACC football Champion Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, the other ACC Championship game competitor. It marked the second straight year Clemson defeated the eventual ACC Champion.
The Clemson men’s basketball team won a school record 25 games and reached the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament. The Tigers began the season 17-0 and were the last team in the nation to suffer a defeat.
Clemson’s rowing team reached a #12 national ranking at midseason, its highest national ranking in history. Sarah Cooper was named a second-team All-American for the second time in her career. She became just the second two-time All-American in Clemson history.
Clemson had the number-four selection in the NFL draft (Gaines Adams) and the number-four selection in the Major League Baseball Draft (Daniel Moskos). Clemson is the only school in the nation to have a first-round selection in football and baseball each of the last two years. It marked the first time in Clemson history the program had a top five draft pick in two different sports.
Adams was named a unanimous first-team All-American in 2006, just the second Clemson football player in history to be named a unanimous first-team All-American.
Former Clemson All-American and current athletic department administrator Jeff Davis was named to the College Football Hall of Fame. His formal induction will take place in New York City on December 4.
Clemson golf coach Larry Penley was named ACC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his Clemson career. That is the second most selections among coaches in all sports in Clemson athletics history.
Clemson freshman golfer Kyle Stanley was named ACC Player of the Year, the first freshman in league history to win that honor. He finished second at the NCAA Tournament and became the first freshman in school history to be named first-team All-American.
Jack Leggett reached the 1,000-victory mark during the 2007 season. At age 53, he is the third youngest coach in NCAA history to reach 1,000 victories.
Track athlete Travis Padgett won the 60 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Arkansas in March. It marked the first national championship for Clemson in men’s track in seven years.
Cross Country runner Itay Magidi won the ACC Cross country championship, the first Clemson runner to win that event since 1994.
The men’s track & field team also boasted All-Americans in Jason Bell (indoor – triple jump), Ryan Koontz (indoor – heptathlon), Corey Brown (4x100m relay), Cowin Mills (4x100m relay), Travis Padgett (100m dash), and Mitch Greeley (outdoor – pole vault).
The women’s track & field program produced its first All-American since the 2005 season. Della Clark was third at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw.
Clemson football players Jacoby Ford and C.J. Spiller both earned All-America honors in track. Ford finished third in the nation in the 60 meters during the indoor season, and Spiller was a member of Clemson’s 4X100 meter relay team that finished seventh at the NCAA Outdoor championships.
Bob Pollock’s men’s track program finished 15th during the indoor season and 25th during the outdoor season. It was the first time in five years that Clemson had a top 25 finish in both track seasons in the same year.
The Tiger women’s tennis doubles tandem of Ani Mijacika and Federica van Adrichem etched its name in the school record books after becoming the first doubles team in Clemson history to advance to the Final Four of the women’s doubles NCAA Tournament. They were ranked fourth in the final rankings and were both named All-Americans.
Clemson student-athletes had a 2.93 GPA for the spring semester in 2007, the highest semester GPA in school history. Eight different programs had at least a 3.0 team GPA.
Sarah Cefalu (women’s swimming and diving), Thomas Hunter (football) received Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarships from the ACC, while Britten Meyer (women’s soccer) was a Weaver-James-Corrigan Honorary Award Recipient.
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