Former Clemson Basketball Great Butch Zatezalo Passes at Age 57

Aug. 26, 2005

Center Township, PA – Former Clemson basketball great Butch Zatezalo passed away at his home on Wednesday, August 24. The funeral will be held Saturday at 8:30 AM at St. Elijah Cemetery Resurrection Chapel in his hometown of Aliquippa, PA. Zatezalo was 57 years old.

A three-year letterwinner, he concluded his playing career as Clemson’s leader with an all-time scoring average of 23.5 points per game, a record which still stands today. He finished his career with 1,761 points, a record that stood until it was broken in 1990 by Elden Campbell.

Zatezalo earned All-ACC honors each of his three seasons as a Tiger, the first in school history to do so. An incredible shooter, he ranks fifth all-time in Clemson history with an 82.1 percentage from the free-throw line. Included in his 501 makes from the charity stripe was a 17-17 performance versus Maryland in January of 1968. Zatezalo also scored 20 or more points 52 times in his career, 14 more than any other player in school history.

He was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.