From the Desk of Dan Radakovich – Aug. 28, 2013

Hello Tiger fans!

Game week is finally here! It will be a great week for Clemson fans everywhere. Preparations are in high gear as we welcome well over 100,000 people to campus, along with our partners at ESPN/ABC and the popular College GameDay crew. It’s been a challenging summer in terms of the weather, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that none of that impacts the fan experience come August 31. Make sure you check out ClemsonTigers.com on Wednesday through Friday of this week for all the latest information as it pertains to parking, traffic, etc.

We want to thank everyone for coming out to Fan Day on Aug. 18. While some folks had a great experience, we acknowledge there were others that did not. We apologize for that inconvenience. It’s a difficult undertaking when people come to photograph and visit with student-athletes and coaches in a short period of time.

We’re incredibly thankful for the interest, but we can and will do better. It was my first time seeing this event in Clemson, and it was unlike any I’ve ever seen before, in a positive way. We’ll make the necessary alterations to the process moving forward. It was particularly heart-warming to see the young fans, especially children five and under. For some, it was their first experience at Memorial Stadium. We’re hoping to grow our next generation of Tiger fans.

We were not satisfied with the service we received from our ticket vendor, Weldon, Williams & Lick out of Arkansas. They did not provide the service we felt was necessary to our fans. While everyone should have tickets and parking passes, it was too rocky of an experience for our IPTAY and ticket operations staff. We’ll sit down with WWL shortly to make sure we receive the kind of service that we are paying for, and to look at potential alterations in our delivery methods moving forward.

It was great to welcome the men’s basketball team back from Italy last week. I’ve heard from Brad Brownell and his staff that it was a wonderful experience. These are rare opportunities. It not only brought our team closer together, but was also a cultural experience these student-athletes will never forget. The team visited five different cities over 10 days, and went undefeated in four exhibition games as well. Also in Europe, congratulations to former Tiger great Brianna Rollins for her victory in Moscow. She became the youngest athlete in history to win a World Championship in the 100 hurdles, capping an undefeated and unbelievable season.

On Aug. 17, I had the pleasure of addressing over 300 IPTAY Representatives who were on campus. They were enthusiastic as it relates to raising funds to pay for our scholarships and academic programs, etc. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to speak to the IPTAY Board of Directors and explain our vision for facilities as it relates to the future of Clemson Athletics. It was similar to our July presentation to the University Board of Trustees. The IPTAY folks asked great questions, and we’re very fortunate they have bought into the things we need to accomplish from a facility upgrade perspective. We’ll go back to the Board of Trustees for final approval in October, and more information will be forthcoming on some of the particulars of the projects.

I wanted to close by saying what a pleasure it was to welcome all the freshmen last week for our annual “Lunch at Littlejohn.” We shared a meal, and then they were able to hear from our coaches and cheerleaders, who helped indoctrinate them into the Clemson University spirit.

Dan Radakovich

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