One Saturday morning in 1974 I was at work in my office in the sports information office when I heard the voice of Coach Tates Locke. I looked up and there stood Moses Malone and Coach Locke. Moses completely filled the door of my office. He was on his visit to Clemson and everyone was excited about it. Clemson already had quite a recruiting class with Skip Wise, Colon Abraham and Stan Rome ready to begin that fall. Tree Rollins was going to be sophomore that fall and the thought of adding Moses to a lineup that would include Wayne Croft also was just amazing.
By all accounts, Moses had a good visit but as the summer wore on, Skip Wise told me that Moses was going to sign with Maryland - just to get Lefty off his back -- but he was going pro. That thought had never entered my mind since Moses would be one of the first but that is exactly what happened. Skip always told me if Moses had gone to college he would have come to Clemson. I do know that one of Clemson's assistants spent one solid month at the Holiday Inn in Petersburg, Va. waiting on Moses to make a decision.
One other note -- during his visit to Clemson, Skip and the guys took Moses out to Mac's. Clemson paid the tab for his meal but he left a quarter as a tip. Mac took that quarter and put it up on the marquis behind the counter that showed the menu of food. That quarter stayed there for many years.
In retrospect, I have always wondered what would have happened if we had signed Moses. The NCAA hammered us for the violations and I wonder if it would have been worse. I do know that a lineup of Tree and Moses under the hoop with Skip Wise, Stan Rome and Colon Abraham along with the other guys we had like Wayne Croft would have been quite a team. Maybe we would have beaten the Heels in that epic semi-final game in Greensboro and who knows.
By all accounts, Moses had a good visit but as the summer wore on, Skip Wise told me that Moses was going to sign with Maryland - just to get Lefty off his back -- but he was going pro. That thought had never entered my mind since Moses would be one of the first but that is exactly what happened. Skip always told me if Moses had gone to college he would have come to Clemson. I do know that one of Clemson's assistants spent one solid month at the Holiday Inn in Petersburg, Va. waiting on Moses to make a decision.
One other note -- during his visit to Clemson, Skip and the guys took Moses out to Mac's. Clemson paid the tab for his meal but he left a quarter as a tip. Mac took that quarter and put it up on the marquis behind the counter that showed the menu of food. That quarter stayed there for many years.
In retrospect, I have always wondered what would have happened if we had signed Moses. The NCAA hammered us for the violations and I wonder if it would have been worse. I do know that a lineup of Tree and Moses under the hoop with Skip Wise, Stan Rome and Colon Abraham along with the other guys we had like Wayne Croft would have been quite a team. Maybe we would have beaten the Heels in that epic semi-final game in Greensboro and who knows.
