Photo Credits: Paul Kiesler
Clemson, SC
By Lindsay Rhodes
Congratulations are in order for the Clemson Men’s Basketball team for bringing home the gold after representing Team USA in the World University Games in Italy.
Team USA went 3-0 in pool play, before defeating Germany in the quarterfinals and Israel in the semifinals before advancing to the gold medal game. Team USA had a rematch with the Ukraine after beating them 59-58 in pool play. Team USA got off to a dominating start and never looked back, pulling ahead 28-13 at the end of the first quarter and held a 48-23 lead at halftime. Team USA would defeat the Ukraine 85-63.
The Tigers returned home Saturday night and were greeted by the cheers of the Tiger faithful who had gathered along the Avenue of Champions to welcome the team home.
A beaming Aamir Simms addressed the media wearing his gold medal proudly. Upon their victory over the Ukraine, Simms wrapped the American flag around him and celebrated with his teammates. “ I was ecstatic, speechless, I couldn’t do anything. I had an unbelievable amount of energy in my body. As you can see in the video, I was dancing with the flag, smiling from ear-to-ear, like I am now. It was an indescribable moment, something that I will never forget and it will be with me for the rest of my life.” Simms said when asked about how it felt to dawn the American flag over his shoulders after winning.
Head Coach Brad Brownell spoke on how well the team had come together and were so unselfish out on the court. “Everyone seemed to have a game or two where they played really well. I think playing 10 or 11 guys in every game and playing similar minutes, you know minus one or two guys. I think that there was a chemistry that developed through the two weeks that we were there and all of a sudden guys were playing as hard as they could, all the time, every possession and asking to come out. That’s what was exciting for me as a coach to watch your players grow together during that experience.
Video of team Arrival:
By: Neil Burnett:
As most every Clemson fan knows by now, Clemson took Gold at the World University games. There were some close games along the way, but the Tigers ran through the Ukraine to win the gold. The team was led by senior Aamir Simms and sophomore John Newman III. Two players who were expected to be a big part of this Clemson team suffered torn ACL’s prior to the trip to Italy.
Clyde Trapp was expected to start at one guard position while Jonathan Baehre, 6-10 transfer from UNC-Asheville, would have given much help at the forward position. There are two other players on the roster that have to sit out a year, Nick Honor and Khavon Moore. Both figure prominently in the near future for Clemson. As it stands, Clemson looks to be short handed this year, and lacks a true big man. Losing Trapp and Baehre hurts the little depth they had. Jemison is going to have to step up and quickly.
A potential starting five for Clemson (along with World University stats) this year now looks something like this: PTS REB FG% FT%
Aamir Simms 6-8 248 JR 15.2 9.8 42% 67%
Johnny Newman III 6-5 197 So 13.2 5.7 56%. 67%
Tevin Mack 6-6 225 Sr (GR) 9.5 4.3 41% 43%
Hunter Tyson 6-8 204 So . 8.3 3.8 42% 73%
Curran Scott 6-4 208 Sr (GR) . 5.0 1.5 27% 70%
Al-Amir Dawes 6-2 175 Frosh 7.0 2.2 30% 85%
Chase Hunter 6-3 180 Frosh 3.8 1.5 24%. 45%
Richard Jemison 7-0 254 Soph . 4.2. 3.5 . 47% 45%
Alex Hemenway 6-4 170 Frosh 3.0 1.0 33% 86%
Nick Honor 5-10 190 Soph 6.5 1.7 29% 64%
Khavon Moore 6-8 215. Soph 1.8 3.3 . 25% 33%
So, the one question that needs to be asked. How was Clemson selected to represent the USA in these games? What was the criteria, the process. Clemson Sporting News contacted Delise S. O’Meally, MBA JD, who is the Executive Director/Secretary General of the United States International University Sport Federation and ask them that very question. Here was his response: “Our selection process begins by extending an invitation to the sport National Governing Bodies (e.g USA Swimming, USA Basketball) to field a team of FISU eligible athletes.
If the governing body chooses not to send a team we begin an objective selection process starting with the highest ranked university teams within the sport. We are constrained of course by nationality as all competing athletes must be US citizens. We go down that list in order of ranking until we secure a team that is interested, and meets all eligibility criteria. In this case this is how Clemson, and Mississippi State on the women’s side were selected. In some of the other sports (e.g Water Polo, Volleyball) the NGBs selected all star teams through their published selection process.”
Amir Sims Speaks to Media :
Brad Brownell Speaks to Media :
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