Men’s Basketball Significant Team Accomplishments in 2006-07

April 3, 2007

*Reached championship game of the NIT for just the second time in school history. It was just the second time any Clemson team reached the finals of a post-season tournament.

*Recorded 25 wins, tied for the most in Clemson history with the 1986-87 team that had a 25-6 record.

*Started the year with a 17-0 record, tying the record for the most consecutive wins at any time in a season. The Tigers were the last team in the nation to lose in 2006-07, the first time that had been the case in school history.

*Team closed the season with six wins in its last eight games. First time since 1966-67 that Clemson closed the season by winning six of its last eight games.

*Defeated 13 different teams that won at least 20 games, a record for a Clemson season.

*Finished the season ranked 32nd in the nation in final RPI and 29th in the final Sagarin computer rankings on April 3. Clemson’s final RPI was better than 14 teams who received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. It was the best RPI by a Clemson team since the 1997-98 team finished at 28th.

*Clemson finished tied for second in the ACC in overall wins with Maryland. North Carolina had the most with 31.

*Won three ACC road games for the first time since 1996-97.

*Clemson had 6-5 overall road record in all games, the first time since 1996-97 that Clemson had a winning record on an opponent’s home floor. Clemson had nine total wins away from home, most since 1996-97 team had 10.

*Started the year by winning the Cox Communications Classic in Virginia. Clemson completed the championship by defeating NCAA Tournament team Old Dominion on its home court.

*One of three schools ranked in the top 20 in the nation in blocked shots and steals, joining Kansas and Memphis, two Elite Eight NCAA Tournament teams.

*Won at least seven ACC games for the second straight year, first time the program has done that since the 1996-98 era.

*Five different players averaged in double figures for the season, just the second time in Clemson history the Tigers had five double figure scorers in one season.

*Clemson had five sell-out home crowds, most in a season since 1997-98.

*Team had a GPA of 2.55 for the first semester, highest by a Clemson team since 1983.

*Team was ranked in the USA Today poll for eight straight weeks, reaching a high of #14 in the nation on January 8. Team was ranked #1 in the RPI in December, a first for the program in 10 years.

*Posted a 4-0 record against SEC schools, the first time Clemson had four wins against the SEC in the same year. Including wins over Syracuse (Big East) and Minnesota (Big Ten), Clemson has a 6-1 record against non-ACC BCS conference teams. It was a school record for non-conference wins against BCS conference teams.

*Tigers had a 18-1 record in non-conference play, a Clemson record for non-conference wins in a season and winning percentage. Clemson and Oregon were only schools in the nation with perfect non-conference record entering postseason play.

*A look to the NCAA record books tells us that Clemson had more wins this year than eight of the top 10 winningest programs in college basketball history. Clemson had more wins this year than Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse Temple, St. John’s, Penn, Indiana and Utah. Only North Carolina and Kansas had more among the top 10 winningest programs in college basketball history.

*As stated above, Clemson had more wins than Duke, Indiana and Kentucky in 2006-07. Kentucky and Duke finished the year with 22-12 records, while Indiana was 21-11. This is the first time since the 1937-38 season that Clemson has more wins than all three of those schools in the same year.

*Clemson had more wins this year than Kentucky, UCONN and Duke, the top three winningest programs in college basketball over the last 10 years.

Accomplishments of Head Coach Oliver Purnell *Improved win total by at least three victories for the third straight year. Oliver Purnell is just the third ACC coach in history to accomplish that feat at a league school, joining Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Cremins.

*Purnell also became just the seventh active Division I coach to win at least 20 games at four different Division I schools. His 25 wins at Clemson this year were a personal career high.

*Won at least 19 games for a second consecutive season. First time the program has done that in consecutive years since 1988-89 and 1989-90. Clemson’s 44 combined wins in the last two years are most since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

*Clemson defeated a Syracuse team coached by Hall of Fame mentor Jim Boeheim on March 21. It marked the first time Clemson had defeated a Hall of Fame coach (in the Hall of Fame at the time of the game) since a 77-69 win over North Carolina and Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith on February 17, 1994. It was the first time Clemson defeated a Hall of Fame coach anywhere since the 1996 ACC tournament when Clemson defeated Smith and the Tar Heels 75-73 in Greensboro.

*Completed his year as first Clemson coach in any sport to serve as his national governing body’s president.

Individual Player Accomplishments *K.C. Rivers named first-team All-NIT and averaged 19 points per game in the NIT.

*James Mays named to second-team All-District by NABC.

*Mays established school record for steals (69) and assists (95) by a Clemson frontcourt player in a season.

*Mays and Vernon Hamilton named to Fans Guide to ACC Basketball, first-team All-Defense team selected by the ACC Coaches. Clemson was only team in ACC with two selections.

*Vernon Hamilton was named to the All Cox Communications Classic team.

*Hamilton left school ranked fifth in Clemson history in scoring among point guards with 1238 points.

*Hamilton set school record for steals in a career with 271 and finished sixth in ACC history in that category.

*Trevor Booker had second most rebounds (232), second best field goal percentage (.602) and second most blocked shots (78) by a Clemson freshman in history.

*Cliff Hammonds became just the 15th junior in school history to reach 1000 points. He will enter his senior year with 1077 career points.