Top 10 Clemson sports moments of 2022-23 season, including ACC and national championships
The past year was solid if not spectacular for Clemson athletics.
Clemson won four ACC team titles during the 2022-23 academic year, the most for the athletics program since 1998-99.
“At that time there were only nine teams in the league, not 14 or 15 like are competing now,” Clemson Athletic Director Graham Neff said. “Football and basketball drive the economics – there’s nothing surprising about that – but we’ve had across-the-board success, and that’s really important.”
The Tigers won ACC championships in football, women’s golf, men’s track and field and baseball, tying NC State for the most league team titles won in 2022-23.
Off the field, Clemson student-athletes excelled as well, earning a 3.25 overall GPA in the spring 2023 semester, tying for the highest on record and marking the 10th consecutive semester with greater than a 3.0 average. Clemson posted a 3.23 GPA during the fall semester of 2022.
Here are the Top 10 on-field moments for Clemson Athletics, presented chronologically, during the 2022-23 academic year:
Clemson football prevails in two-OT thriller
In the wildest shootout in the ACC in 2022, No. 5 Clemson thwarted a fourth-down pass attempt to knock off Wake Forest 51-45 in two overtimes on Sept. 24 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Behind 371 yards passing and five touchdowns by quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, the Tigers posted their 14th consecutive victory against the Demon Deacons.
Clemson football wins sixth ACC title in eight years
Behind freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik, Clemson rallied to defeat Coastal Division champion North Carolina 39-10 in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 3. Klubnik came off the bench to complete 20 of 24 passes for 279 yards with a touchdown at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
Clemson women’s basketball stuns Hokies
Senior Amari Robinson’s 16 points led four Clemson players in double figures as the Tigers topped the sixth-ranked Hokies 64-59 on Dec. 29 at Littlejohn Coliseum. It was the Tigers’ first victory against a Top 10 opponent since Dec. 9, 2000.
Clemson men’s basketball notches 14th ACC win
Clemson rolled past Notre Dame 87-64 in its ACC regular-season finale on Senior Day on March 4. The victory gave the Tigers a 14-6 league record – the program's most ACC wins in a season – and clinched a third-place finish in the league standings, the best for the program since 2008.
Clemson track’s Giano Roberts races to national title
The Tigers’ Giano Roberts won the national title in the 60-meter hurdles on March 11, the final day of the 2023 NCAA Indoor National Championship Meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was clocked in a school-record 7.55 seconds.
Clemson women’s lacrosse stuns Duke
The Tigers’ inaugural women’s lacrosse team wasted no time in claiming its first upset of a ranked opponent, knocking off No. 13 Duke, 11-10, on March 11 for its first ACC win and first win against a Top 25 opponent. The Tigers went 12-6 and reached a No. 14 national ranking during their debut season.
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Clemson women’s golf claims first ACC title
Freshman Isabella Rawl clinched the Tigers’ match-play victory with a tie on 18 as Clemson topped Virginia 3-1-1 to claim the program’s first ACC Championship. The third-seeded Tigers also got victories from Melena Barrientos and Chloe Holder to win the title on April 16 at Greensboro, North Carolina’s Sedgefield Country Club.
Clemson men’s track rallies to win ACC championship
Clemson entered the final day of competition in 10th place but wound up claiming the crown thanks to four ACC champions on May 13, winning its first title in 19 years by one point over Florida State.
Clemson softball tests No. 1 Oklahoma
Clemson led national top seed and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma 7-4 with two outs in the seventh, but surrendered a three-run home run that sent the game to extra innings in the NCAA Super Regional at Norman, Oklahoma, on May 27. Despite scoring the most runs allowed by the Sooners all season, the Tigers wound up losing 8-7 to the eventual national champions.
Clemson baseball wins first ACC title since 2016
In its first season under coach Erik Bakich, the Tigers rebounded from a 2-8 start in ACC play to win their first ACC Tournament title since 2016. Clemson won its four ACC Tournament games by a combined 39-15 score, including an 11-5 win against No. 8 Miami in the title game on May 28 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ScottKeepfer
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson athletics: Top 10 moments during 2022-23 athletic season
