University of Virginia Library

On The Inside

Why
Go To
Clemson?

By Doug Doughty

CLEMSON'S VICTORY OVER THE 'HOOS Tuesday night
was the first ACC win for the Tigers on the road since early
February, 1968, when they bested Wake Forest, 78-66, at
Winston-Salem. The ACC's longest away-game losing steak was
halted at 38 consecutive losses.

It is not surprising that the Tigers should have such a
record. They have perennially had the least talent in the ACC
and this year is no exception. There is no reason why a good
basketball player should go to Clemson: you can get a better
education almost anywhere else, Clemson S.C., the town, is
one of the most depressing places on earth, and Clemson's sole
basketball tradition is losing.

A CLOSE EXAMINATION OF THE CLEMSON ROSTER
shows that two starters, Jeff Reisinger and Jive Brown come
from Anderson Junior College, 30 miles from Clemson; Dave
Angel halls from Rock Hill, no more than 100 miles from the
Tiger Den, and Bud Martin and Van Gregg, the other starers,
are the only bona-fide out-of-state recruits. Top subs Terrell
Suit and Mike Browning also have an unimpressive past. Suit
went to high school in Anderson and Browning is a transfer
from the University of Miami, which discontinued basketball
two years ago.

There is nothing wrong with junior college transfers if they
go to, let's say, Vincennes Junior College which Bob McAdoo
and Tony Byers helped make a national champion. But
Anderson is just down the pike from Clemson and somehow
you have to do better than that. There also isn't anything
wrong with in-state talent, but there's no doubt that if there
was any exceptional talent in the state it would be suiting up
for Frank McGuire in Columbia, rather than all those
expatriated New Yorkers.

ATTENDANT FOR THIS BAND OF MISFITS is one Tates
Locke. Locke was already fairly widely-known in basketball
circles before he replaced Bobby Roberts at the Tiger helm at
the start of the 1970-71 season. Still only 35, Locke gained
himself a reputation as a disciplinarian and one of the top
defensive coaches in the country while at Army and Miami of
Ohio.

There must be something about the ACC that draws coaches
that have been successful elsewhere to ply their skill at places
like Clemson and Wake Forest. Carl Tacy left Marshall, where
he took the Thundering Herd to the NCAA's last season, to
come to Wake Forest where his Deacons are safely in last place
now. Locke's 1969 Miami team went to the NCAA and in
1970 the Redskins accepted a NIT bid. His first two Clemson
teams have been 9-17 and 10-16.

WITH A PATIENT SUBSERVIENCE TO DEFEAT that
belies his feisty, temperament, Locke has begun to make
inroads into the upper echelons of his conference. As he said
after Tuesday's game, "I only think about all the losing when I
think about how nice it would be to have a prize recruit call
me up and tell me he's coming to Clemson." Tates shouldn't
be so hard on himself: three years have shown a great deal of
progress in the Clemson program.

In Tates' first season his sole big moments came when his
Tigers upset Virginia and then-mediocre Maryland and N.C.
State. But his proudest moment came when junior Bud Martin
sunk two last-minute free throws to provide the Tigers a 63-61
win over Maryland last year at Littlejohn.

THERE'S TALK THAT TATES LOCKE has an ulcer, he
wants to spend more time with his family and that this will be
his last season at Clemson. Not a chance. Locke has
accomplished more this season than any other coach in the
league. The Tigers are 3-7 in the ACC, with two wins over
Virginia and an 86-61 pasting of Wake Forest to their credit.
In addition, Clemson took the ball game to Duke at Durham
and blew it and still lost by only three, 75-72. In the
North-South Classic, Clemson led number-two ranked N.C.
State by seven points with five minutes left before succumbing
to the Wolfpack.

The Tigers play Wake again this Saturday at
Winston-Salem, and then host Duke a week from today at
Littlejohn. Clemson will beat Wake and might beat Duke. A
win in both games would give Tates a 5-7 league record giving
him a good chance at fifth place in the conference over
Virginia, which still has tough North Carolina and Maryland
left to play. Sixth place wouldn't be bad for the 'Hoos (they
would then avoid a first or second round confrontation with
N.C. State in the tourney) but it isn't one of those things you
shoot for.

IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT CLEMSON BEAT VIRGINIA.
Coach Gibson has said all along that the team that controls a
game's tempo usually wins. The fact that the Cavaliers have
beaten North Carolina and come so close to N.C. State twice
attests to that. Clemson has controlled the tempo of both
games between the clubs this season. As the only team to do
so against the Cavaliers all year, the Tigers reaped their just
rewards.

Clemson controlled the tempo because it followed its game
plan perfectly. Locke started three guards, they were not to
hazzard any long-range shots against the Cavaliers 2-3 zone
(even Van Gregg managed to curtail his shooting) and the
back-door pass was a necessity. This and the Tigers' always
sticky man-to-man completely stifled the Cavalier offense and
contributed to what Coach Locke called "my greatest win
since I've been at Clemson."