Sam Blackman on Bourret, "Some people leave voids that you can never fill."
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This week we spoke with Senior Athletic Communications Director Sam Blackman about Clemson basketball and his good friend Tim Bourret. You can listen to the extended audio interview above.
| Thoughts on the job that Brad Brownell has done this season: |
"I think he's done a fabulous job. I think he's a good coach and a very smart coach. I feel like this team has a lot of character. They've come together with adversity losing one of their top players, a senior, a leader and they've done a fabulous job without Donte Grantham. It's amazing that they've faced adversity with him being hurt, but they've come together and just shown a lot of character. That's the key word, character."
| How have they managed to play well minus Donte Grantham: |
"They are very coachable. They believe in Coach Brownell. What he wants and his philosophy. I just think we've got a lot going for us. I think they have developed a three-point weapon. I think Thomas has done a really good job inside as well."
| Thoughts about Tim Bourret announcing that he will retire: |
"It's a very sad time to think about Tim Bourret retiring, but at the same time, you are happy for him reaching this chapter in his life. What a wonderful resource of information. Before him (Bourret) it was Bob Bradley. Mr. Bradley, after he retired in 1989 still kept coming in the office and was a very valuable resource for us and I think Tim is going to do that for us as well."
| On his relationship with Bourret: |
"I've known Tim for a long time. I started working with him in 1982 as a student worker and I've been here ever since. I just cannot say what a valuable resource he is and what a colleague, but more importantly, what a great friend he has been to me through the years."
| On Bourret's impact at Clemson: |
"He's just someone you won't replace. Some people leave vacancies and others leave voids that you can never fill and I feel like Tim is going to leave a void. I'm so glad that he will be around and I'm sure he will help out and things will go on as smooth as possible. I'm just so glad that he's not moving two or three states away."
Click here to listen to our recent interview with Tim Bourret.
| On Clemson basketball teams with an undefeated home season: |
"I know of two, the 1979-80 season, the year they went to the Elite Eight they were 15-0 at home. I know in 1989-90 Clemson was 14-0 at home. That was the regular season championship team. That was a very special year, so those are the two undefeated home seasons."
| Thoughts on the 1979-80 team: |
"That was a special team. They just came together. They had Larry Nance, Billy Williams, and Bobby Conrad. They were just a solid team. A special team. They went on to the final eight. They beat No. 1 Duke at Clemson in early January. I think the box score they put 13,500 in Littlejohn, but actually if the truth was known it was closer to 15,000. There were people in the aisles."
| On why Littlejohn was so crowded: |
"What happened was if Clemson students showed their activity card you were admitted to the coliseum. There wasn't any cut-off point. Classes hadn't started yet and everybody came to the coliseum. We have a picture of that. You can see where there are no aisles in the picture, it's just solid people. Of course, I think they had to talk to the fire marshall the next day and explain things."
You can read the full story about that game here.