Senior Night

posted by LW, Tuesday, March 02, 2010

I wasn't around Clemson for the Larry Shyatt years -- oh, the injustice -- so I don't have an idea of how special Senior Nights were under his watch.

I'm guessing, though, that they weren't near the memorable events they've become under Oliver Purnell.

Part of that is because of great games. Two crazy ones against Virginia Tech (70-69 in 2008 and 66-64 in 2005), and an overtime affair against Miami (2007).

And part of it is because of wins. The Tigers haven't lost one since Purnell's first season (to Georgia Tech, ironically enough).

But the biggest part is because Purnell has recruited good players who have helped transform this program from a laughingstock to one everyone takes seriously.

We'll never forget the day everyone said goodbye to Cliff Hammonds, James Mays and Sam Perry.

Same with K.C. Rivers and Ray Sykes last year.

And same with Trevor Booker and David Potter tonight.

Purnell always gets visibly emotional on these occasions as he joins his seniors and their families at mid-court. It's pretty poignant stuff.

At yesterday's press conference, I asked OP about the conflicting emotional waves that crash against each other for him on Senior Night. These games are usually big, so he's usually consumed with the preparation and the matchups.

Then he has to say goodbye to his seniors. Not an easy deal.

This is what he said:

"It's tough. You just start thinking in a very sentimental way about your guys that have been there for four years leaving. That emotion is going through almost your whole body. And at the same time, like you said, you've got a big game that, generally speaking, you're having intensity, butterflies, this or that kind of emotions that seem to be just the opposite.

"So that's always tough. The toughest part for me is the first couple of minutes of the game, and then after that I'm fine. Just because those two different kind of emotions collide."

Should be a fun night.

In the Independent-Mail, Booker is ready for his final bow at Littlejohn.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” he said of his final home game. “It probably won’t sink in till tomorrow night, when they announce my name. It’ll be great if I can finish it with a win.”

In the Post and Courier, Travis Sawchik says Booker's impact is similar to that of some guy named Spiller.

"You look at (Booker) improving and his production, and it mirrors what we've done since he's been here," Purnell said. "He certainly picked up the mantle and moved this program forward."

Also in the P&C, Sawchik assesses the craziness in the ACC as the regular season approaches its end.

No snow on the ground in Clemson as of 8:48 a.m., and I'm thinking the Ard household isn't a fun place to be right now.

Spoke with Cris late yesterday afternoon, and he was positively giddy at the thought of waking up to the white stuff covering the ground.

Now ...


Georgia Tech is 1-6 on the road in the ACC, but the Yellow Jackets have been close in a number of those games.

Tech has beaten only North Carolina on the road in the conference this season but came painfully close in their last road game at Maryland before losing on a Cliff Tucker three-pointer at the buzzer. Tech lost at Miami in the final seconds as well on James Dews' baseline jumper.

"We've been close," Hewitt said. "It's not like ‘How are we going to do this?' "

And this from Iman Shumpert:

"I remember Terrence Oglesby last year. I don't think I've ever heard a crowd get so excited, as whenever he got an open look or when (Trevor) Booker got a dunk," said Tech point guard Iman Shumpert. "They press the whole game, the crowd gets loud and the court gets really small. We've got to get out there and be aggressive right away."

After all the talk about how difficult it is to win on the road in the ACC, five of six road teams won last weekend (including Clemson at Florida State). Still, the road teams have won just 32 percent of the time in the ACC this season.

Barry Jacobs of The ACC Sports Journal takes a look at the confidence game at play in these games, specifically focusing on Wake Forest.

While it may seem obvious, it’s worth remembering that team confidence is partly a function of individual confidence. Where doubt creeps in, weakness follows like water undermining a foundation.

For several years Wake has struggled to establish a respectable outside scoring threat to augment its inside game and punish defenses that pack the lane. Last season the Deacs’ 3-point accuracy was 11th in the league; in 2008 they were the ACC’s worst from the bonusphere.

Earlier this year, that perimeter punch was bolstered considerably by freshmen Stewart and C.J. Harris. But Harris particularly has tailed off – over the past nine games he has made 6 of 32 shots from 3-point range (18.8 percent), including a pair of misses against the Tar Heels.

In Wake’s last three outings, all losses, the freshmen pair hit 5 of 26 threes, including Stewart’s 4-of-8 efficiency versus UNC.
“We’ve just got to find guys that can make perimeter jumpshots,” Gaudio admitted.

Ken Tysiac writes about Brian Zoubek's emergence. Never, ever thought I'd be saying this, but Zoubek's post presence makes me slightly more optimistic about Duke's chances of advancing in the NCAA Tournament.

Slightly.

Moving on to some football stuff...

Andre Powell has big holes to fill on Clemson's special teams.

Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News lists five names to watch for the Tigers' offense during spring practice.

First names on the list: Donny McElveen and Taylor Ogle.

McElveen played at Summerville High School as a senior for his grandfather, legendary coach John McKissick, but as a junior led Mount Tabor High School to the North Carolina AAAA state championship game. Ogle, the tallest quarterback (6-5), is from Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Bad craziness at The Citadel.

Just unthinkable stuff.

So Lane Kiffin ditches his brother-in-law at Tennessee, then hires another family member to be an administrative assistant at Southern Cal.

Thanksgiving should be fun. Maybe Jerry Springer can televise it.


LW

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