Example of good reporting without bias..

Feb 23, 2005, 10:45 AM

I think this guy is good second article of his that is straight up, nothing out of context reporting

Clemson AD defends Bowden over recruit's pulled scholarship

BY LARRY WILLIAMS
Of The Post and Courier Staff

CLEMSON--Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips has sent a letter to IPTAY representatives defending football coach Tommy Bowden's recent decision to rescind a scholarship offer to a recruit.
In a copy of the letter obtained by The Post and Courier, Phillips blamed "a series of unfortunate, though not uncommon events" for pulling a scholarship offer to running back Tony Nelson of Maryland.

After Nelson made an oral commitment to Clemson last summer, Tigers coaches informed him in early January that their initial offer -- extended by fired defensive coordinator John Lovett -- no longer stood. In several published reports, Nelson's high school coach was harshly critical of Bowden for not sticking to his word.

Nelson, who played at Northwest High School in Germantown, Md., eventually signed with Division I-AA Massachusetts.

"To those who would question whether our football program will keep its word, we would ask them to look at Coach Bowden's overall record," Phillips wrote.

In his letter, Phillips said the decision not to honor the offer was a result of Nelson's academic standing and the Tigers' change of offensive philosophy. Bowden fired offensive coordinator Mike O'Cain after the season and replaced him with Rob Spence.

Nelson's coach, Randy Trivers, reportedly said Nelson needed only 50 points on his SAT to qualify academically. Clemson's coaches say Nelson was much further away from qualifying.

According to Phillips, Clemson tried to cut down on signing players who were borderline academically after six signees from the 2004 class failed to qualify.

"Our coaches were faced with some difficult questions," Phillips wrote. "Would the young man qualify? Is it fair to the young man to still sign him knowing, most probably, he would have difficulty competing at this level?"

Phillips said Tuesday that his letter was more of an explanation than a response to criticism or questions from representatives of IPTAY, the athletic department's fund-raising arm. Bowden has not commented on the situation.

"The fact that there was a withdrawal of an offer, people aren't comfortable with it," Phillips said. "Tommy's not comfortable it, and I'm not comfortable with it. ... To me, it's a very serious thing. But when you look at whether someone has ethics or integrity in the recruiting process, you have to look at the record on balance, and that was the purpose of that letter. Tommy's got a very strong record, on balance."

MORE RAISES LIKELY

Phillips said he will soon meet with Bowden to discuss giving raises to more football assistants.

Offensive line coach Brad Scott and running backs coach Burton Burns recently received raises and multi-year contracts. Phillips also bumped up the salaries at offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and defensive line.

Having yet to receive raises are receivers coach Dabo Swinney, linebackers coaches David Blackwell and Ron West, and tight end coach Jack Hines.

Phillips indicated that more raises are a distinct possibility.

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Example of good reporting without bias..

Re: Example of good reporting without bias..

Re: Example of good reporting without bias..

Re: Example of good reporting without bias..

Well written. Larry deserves a pat on the back for doing

P&C is usually pretty good paper

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