From the Desk of Dan Radakovich – Dec. 18, 2017

Tiger Fans,

It’s hard to imagine the beginning of this month marked the five-year anniversary of my arrival to Clemson. As we often say…what a time to be a Tiger!! The past half-decade has been filled with many special moments, and I cannot thank the entire Clemson Family – the Board of Trustees, Presidents Barker and Clements, our coaches and staff and every IPTAY donor and fan – enough for the amazing ride it’s been.

From conference championships to record GPAs and graduation rates, individual accolades to national championship games with men’s soccer and football and, of course, the CFP National Title in Tampa last January. Every step of the way, our student-athletes have represented this great university in a first-class manner and made each of us proud to wear Orange and sport the Tiger Paw.

During this fall semester, our student-athletes posted a record-tying 91 percent, with baseball, men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and volleyball each recording perfect 100 scores. On the fields, our men’s soccer team spent most of the season ranked in the top 10 nationally, women’s soccer reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-consecutive year and football is back in the College Football Playoff for the third-straight season! And to top it off, next week, 48 student-athletes will walk across the stage at Littlejohn Coliseum as graduates.

Our men’s and women’s basketball teams both posted their ninth wins of the season this weekend, as they’ve compiled 9-1 and 9-2 records, respectively. The men’s team defeated No. 22 Florida last weekend, with coach Brad Brownell earning his 300th career win. Coach Audra Smith’s squad heads to Miami next weekend to close its non-conference schedule at the FIU Holiday Tournament, while coach Brownell’s team welcomes the Gamecocks to Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday evening to open a three-game homestand. While the students are away on Christmas break, we hope to see you and your family in Littlejohn Coliseum providing our program with a great homecourt advantage.

Off the field, we continue to work to provide the best facilities for our student-athletes and the best experience for all our fans. This year saw the opening of the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex and subsequent move of our Student-Athlete Enrichment Services to the Nieri Center in the WestZone, providing state-of-the-art learning and development areas for each of our athletes. We also began work on a new tennis facility and finished the build-out of the new ACC Network studios. Next up are a new soccer locker room and coaches offices near their practice fields, a renovation of the IPTAY building at Memorial Stadium and the construction of our new softball stadium.

Our communication team continues to provide engaging content in the social and digital space, and we hope you’ve been able to follow along with all the great inside access they’ve provided throughout the fall. This semester saw the debut of “The Vlog,” and you can check out the most recent episode HERE. You can find constant updates, behind-the-scenes looks and up-to-date information on each of our programs through @ClemsonTigers on a variety of social channels. A complete directory is available HERE.

As we close 2017, we want to take a moment and say THANK YOU to each of our IPTAY donors and fans. With football preparing for the College Football Playoff, men’s and women’s basketball off to a great start, graduation this week and a slew of exciting spring sports on the horizon, we know none of it would be possible without your passionate support.

From the entire Clemson Family, we hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and joyous holiday season. Happy New Year, and we’ll see you in Littlejohn Coliseum, in New Orleans and at Clemson events throughout 2018.

GO TIGERS!

Dan Radakovich