Three Tiger Student-Athletes Receive Postgraduate Scholarship Awards from the ACC

Feb. 19, 2008

GREENSBORO, NC – Forty Atlantic Coast Conference scholar-athletes have been named recipients of postgraduate scholarships, as announced by Commissioner John D. Swofford, and three Tigers were among the winners for 2008. Cliff Hammonds (men’s basketball) and Elizabeth Jobe (women’s soccer) received the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award, while Meghan Steiner (volleyball) received the Jim and Pat Thacker Award.

Hammonds currently leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio and is one of just five players in league history to have recorded 1,300 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals. He has started 124 games in his career, and 121 in a row. Hammonds has helped Clemson to 79 wins in four years, which ranks second in school history behind Elden Campbell in terms of victories played in. He currently ranks second in Tiger recordbooks in steals and three-point goals, fifth in assists and 11th in scoring. Hammonds is double-majoring in architecture and psychology and will become the first Clemson scholarship basketball player to earn a degree in architecture.

Jobe made penalty kicks in three consecutive NCAA tournament contests to help the Tiger soccer team reach the NCAA Elite Eight in 2006. She started all 71 games of her Clemson career from 2004-07 and the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament all four of those years. Jobe anchored the Clemson defense in 2007, helping the team allow its opponents an average of just 1.03 goals per game. She graduated in December of 2007 with a degree in Animal & Veterinary Sciences and plans to attend veterinary school in the fall.

Steiner helped lead the 2007 Tiger volleyball team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999 and also helped Clemson win the ACC title in 2007. She ranks fifth in school history for career hitting percentage and career blocks per game average. She recorded a .381 hitting percentage for the 2007 season, which is the highest hitting percentage for a senior and the second-best percentage overall in Clemson history. She owns Clemson single match records for kills, hitting percentage, total blocks and block assists. Steiner graduated in December of 2007 with a degree in biological sciences and plans to attend medical school to become an oncologist.

The 40 student-athletes will be honored April 16, 2008, in Greensboro, N.C., at a luncheon hosted by the Nat Greene Kiwanis Club. The luncheon will be held at the Koury Convention Center.

The Weaver-James-Corrigan and Jim and Pat Thacker scholarships are given to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate-level degree following graduation. Each recipient will receive $5,000 to use towards his or her graduate education. Student-athletes receiving the award have performed with distinction in both the classroom and in their respective sports, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.

The Weaver-James-Corrigan award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James as well as Gene Corrigan, all former ACC commissioners. The league’s first commissioner, James H. Weaver, served the conference from 1954 to 1970 after a stint as the Director of Athletics at Wake Forest University. His early leadership and uncompromising integrity are largely responsible for the excellent reputation enjoyed by the ACC today.

Robert C. James, a former University of Maryland football player, was named commissioner in 1971 and served for 16 years. During his tenure, the league continued to grow in stature and became recognized as a national leader in athletics and academics, winning 23 national championships and maintaining standards of excellence in the classroom.

Eugene F. Corrigan assumed his role as the third full-time commissioner on September 1, 1987, and served until August of 1997. During Corrigan’s tenure, ACC schools captured 30 NCAA championships and two national football titles.

Prior to 1994, the Weaver-James postgraduate scholarships were given as separate honors. The Jim Weaver award, which originated in 1970, recognized exceptional achievement on the playing field and in the classroom, while the Bob James award, established in 1987, also honored outstanding student-athletes.

The Thacker award, which originated in 2005, is awarded in honor of the late Jim and Pat Thacker of Charlotte, N.C. Jim Thacker was the primary play-by-play announcer for the ACC’s first television network. Recipients of the award must demonstrate outstanding performance both in athletic competition and in the classroom and intend to further their education through post-graduate studies at an ACC institution.