As the Clemson men’s basketball bus pulled alongside Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday night, about fifty or so Tiger fans braved the pending thunderstorms in the Upstate of South Carolina to give them a heroes’ welcome home.
It was probably the first and, quite possibly, the only time the chant U.S.A! U.S.A! was followed by Clemson’s cadence count. But that was the reception this group of Tigers received when they got off the bus following a 10-hour flight from Italy and a two-hour bus drive from Charlotte.
Team USA, as they were called back in Italy, was back in Clemson as Gold Medal Champions at the World University Games.