South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame to Honor Clemson’s Tim Bourret
COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame President Steve McGuirt has announced that Tim Bourret, Sam Wyche, Louis Sossamon, Phil Kornblut and Paul Kennemore will be honored for their various contributions to Palmetto State sports when the organization hosts its 58th annual banquet and induction ceremony on May 14 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
Bourret of Clemson will be recognized with the Bobby Richardson Sportsmanship Award that is sponsored by the Sonny Dickinson Family. Wyche of Greenville will be honored with the Willie Jeffries Ambassador for Sports Award that is sponsored by Defender Services and Sossamon of Gaffney will be recognized with the Felix “Doc” Blanchard Athlete/Citizen Award. Kornblut of Latta will be honored with the Herman Helms Excellence in Media Award and Kennemore of Greenwood will receive the Dom Fusci Leadership in Action Award that is sponsored by Founders Federal Credit Union.
The five will be esteemed along with the new inductees of the SCAHOF Class of 2018 which includes basketball standouts Ray Allen of UConn and Dalzell, Casey Manning of USC and Dillon, and Kenny Washington of Beaufort and UCLA, Clemson wrestler Sammie Henson, USC baseball player Drew Meyer, SC State athlete Sam Goodwin and marathon swimmer Kathleen Wilson of Charleston.
Tickets (table of eight for $600) and program sponsorships are available by calling the SCAHOF office at 803/779-0905. The event, which includes a reception and dinner, begins at 5:30 p.m.
Tim Bourret is concluding his 40th season with the Clemson Sports Communications Department and for 24 years, he served as its director. A native of West Hartford, Conn., and a 1977 Notre Dame graduate, Bourret first came to Clemson as assistant SID under Bob Bradley in September of 1978 and was elevated to an associate SID position in July of 1980.
In June of 2017, Bourret was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame, becoming the third Clemson SID so honored, joining Joe Sherman and Bradley. Combined with Clemson's 2016 National Championship in football, he became the first SID to be inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year the school won the football national championship since 1968.
In 2009, the Clemson Sports Information Office was named to the Football Writers Association "Super 11" Team. The award recognized the top 11 SID offices in the nation for their service in working with media covering college football. Clemson captured the award again in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
He has edited more than100 award-winning brochures in his Clemson career, including 37 that have dealt with Tiger football.
Bourret also has considerable radio experience, as he has been the color voice of Clemson basketball since the 1980-81 season and served in the same capacity for football from 1982-88.
His 38 years of broadcasting Clemson basketball make him the dean of color commentators in any sport in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He gave up his football radio work to supervise the Clemson press box when Bradley retired in 1989. Bourret was also the play-by-play voice of Tiger postseason baseball from 1980-89.
In November of 2007, the Clemson Alumni Association honored Bourret as an honorary alumnus.
In addition to handling the media relations tasks for Clemson football, Bourret is also the Chairman of the Clemson Ring of HonorCommittee and has covered Clemson's National Championship golf program for 40 years.