By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — The first time Dan Radakovich heard of Clemson was when he was nine years old and one of his favorite basketball players, Butch Zatezalo, left the Aliquippa, PA., area to come play for the Tigers.
Zatezalo went on to have one of the greatest basketball careers in Clemson history.
“Suddenly, a team from the South had a patch of fans in the North,” Radakovich said.
A three-year letter winner, Zatezalo concluded his playing career as Clemson’s scoring leader with an all-time average of 23.5 points per game, a record which still stands today. He scored 1,761 points from 1965-‘68, which ranks second to former Tiger great Elden Campbell, who broke Zatezalo’s mark in 1990.
“Because of that, Clemson stayed with me,” Radakovich said.
Clemson has stayed with Radakovich through his entire professional career, including being present in the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1982, when the Tigers won their only national championship in football. When he was a young administrator at Long Beach State in 1990, he remembers his first trip to Clemson when Long Beach State, led by Legendary NFL head coach George Allen, came to Death Valley and was beat 59-0.
“I don’t remember much about that game, but I distinctly remember the feeling, the atmosphere, the hospitality, the passion, and yes, (Howard’s) Rock,” Radakovich said. “I remember thinking, ‘This is a place I want to be.’”
Quietly, Radakovich pulled for Clemson and admired it from afar even when he was at South Carolina, LSU, and the last six years as the athletic director at Georgia Tech. When Terry Don Phillips announced his retirement from Clemson this past August, Radakovich reached out to his colleague and expressed interest in being his replacement.
“Here I am,” he said. “I could not be more honored or proud to be right here at Clemson.”
Clemson President James Barker officially announced Radakovich as Clemson’s 13th Director of Athletics Monday, only the fifth one at Clemson since 1940.
“We set this bar very high,” Barker said. “We wanted an individual that knew how to lead and knew how to win. He has to know how to generate the revenue and how to communicate a vision with Clemson’s future that would rally our students, faculty, coaches, staff and fans.
“We believe we have found just that individual.”
Radakovich was chosen from a pool of candidates that represented every BCS school, two mid-major schools, two officials from conference offices, several from professional franchises, the private sector and of course from inside the Clemson athletic department as well.
The 54-year old Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate is expected to get a five-and-half year contract worth $750,000 annually. He will more than likely begin the job as Clemson’s Athletic Director by Dec. 1.
Phillips will stay on as an advisor to President Barker through the end of his contract which is June 30, 2013.
“Dan understands the academic side of his job as well as the business and competitive aspects of college athletics,” Barker said. “He knows what it takes to win championships. He has a proven track record in fundraising and revenue growth.
“He is also committed to compliance and the student athletes’ welfare.”
Radakovich has served as Georgia Tech’s athletic director the last six-and-half years where he has overseen 51 of his teams advance to either the NCAA Tournament or a bowl game. That includes football, baseball, women’s basketball, softball, women’s tennis and golf. His teams have also won 13 ACC Championships in addition to nine regular season conference or division titles.
On an individual basis, his programs have recorded 13 ACC Coach of the Year and 13 ACC Player of the Year honors.
Now Radakovich is ready to take what he has learned and done at Georgia Tech and add to what Terry Don Phillips has established at Clemson the last 10 years.
“Understanding the passion that (Clemson) people have and understanding that it is important that the athletic programs be successful on the field and successful in the classroom; those are things I have taken away from my experiences when I have come to Clemson.”