A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Mar 11, 2024, 9:46 AM

just about every sport except Women's Basketball. The fact that our Women's basketball program has fallen upon hard times is saddening to this old Tiger. Much like softball, when we started the Women's basketball program in 1975, my junior year at Clemson, we were good from the get go. The program actually reeled off 7 straight winning seasons from the inception, until the first losing season in 1982-83. After "only" going 14-11 that first year under Coach Mary King, the Lady Tigers strung together six straight 20+ game winning seasons under coach Annie Tribble, before that first losing season.

We more than held our own against South Carolina during those early years, as well. Most years produced splits in the series, they did not sweep us for the first time until the 1981-82 season, if my records reference is right. We went back to splitting the series the next year, with both teams winning comfortably in their home arenas. We swept THEM in the 1983-84 season. And the next year. They would return the favor in our 7-21 losing season of 1986-87, Coach Annie Tribble's last season as our Head Coach.

Jim Davis took over as Head Coach for the 1987-88 season, and authored an immediate turnaround, going 21-9 and advancing to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tourney. This was the first of SEVEN straight NCAA Tournament appearances under Coach Davis. The season included a sweep of the two games against South Carolina. The next season produced a split, where, due to a scheduling quirk, we actually played them back to back, first in Columbia, and then at Clemson. They were ranked #16 at the time we beat them in Littlejohn. They were #18 the next year, when they swept US in the seasons series.

And, on it went. This post is already too long, so I haven't reached the point yet when our program fell on hard times, and theirs began to ascend to major new heights. The Coots would make the Elite Eight in the 2001-02 season under Coach Susan Walvius, but it was not until Dawn Staley arrived in Columbia in 2008 that they began to consistently make postseason noise. It took Staley until her 4th season to really get the NCAA train rolling, but once it started rolling, it has never really stopped. They are a "contenda" just about every year now, while Clemson is still struggling to try and recapture past glory.

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Re: A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Wow, did not mean to inspire this post

Re: A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Thank you 76er. First, excellent synopsis through the years. I went to all of them in the 80's and 90s. Second, thanks for caring.

If I may add a little insight. Scar joined the sec. Remember pat and Tennessee owned it for years. Then, March madness exploded once everyone had cable and all the games could be broadcast. That explosion really helped the rise of women's bball also. Late 90s, early 2000s both became huge and have grown ever since.

All that said, more teams started investing into it. I set this up because acc women's bball when Davis was the coach wasn't nearly as strong as they have been the last decade. There was simply not much interest in Clemson. We gave very few dollars for women's coach salaries. It's only been recent, less track and field did we even care or have women's sports.

I don't care much for drad, but he did initiate the progression of women's athletic programs and made the investments. I appreciate him doing that. Now, Dabo is probably as much as anyone responsible for us being able to make these investments. That's why judge Keller should be forever grateful to Dabo. Without Dabo and the nattys, we wouldn't have nearly the amount to spend. Same as every other school in the acc. We probably don't get near the amount of money from the horrible gor if it weren't for FSU and Clemson winning nattys.

Apologies for the jumbled book if you read this. Bottom line point, in a lot of ways, we're way behind even other acc schools in women's athletics investments. But we're now rising to the top. Amanda may not be our long-term coach but she's making baby steps and closing the gap.

Had we not had season ending injuries to Cluse and Kramer, we would definitely be a wnit seed 1 and very possible a ncaa playin bid. She's top 25 recruiting the past 2 years. With some great transfer this year, we'll be great next season.

76er®

A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Re: A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Re: A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

Wow, did not mean to inspire this post

Re: A reply to another post by dsgriff brought up that we currently own the Coots in

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