By Will Vandervort (Contact / Staff Bio)
March 23, 2008 - 12:17 a.m. EST

TAMPA, Fla. — Terrence Oglesby sat next to Cliff Hammonds in Clemson’s locker room listening, not talking, just listening to every word the senior guard said to the media following his final game as a Clemson Tiger.

He listened to how Hammonds, the captain of the team, the leader and spiritual motivator fought back the tears, while blaming himself for Clemson’s shortcomings in its 75-69 loss to Villanova in Friday night’s first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I will be trying to figure out for the rest of my life what could I have done different,” Hammonds said. “What could I have done better to change this? In every situation I have been in before I have been able to learn from the mistakes that I made. Tonight,” he added before succumbing to the tears. “I don’t understand why I couldn’t push my team and set the example to just leave it all out there.”

But it’s hard for Hammonds to solely put the blame on himself. He was playing with a broken wrist. He didn’t blow the once 18-point lead by himself. Plus Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds got hot while scoring a game-high 21 points in leading the Wildcats’ charge back.

It also didn’t help that Clemson (24-10) made just seven baskets in the second half, and were just 9-of-33 from three-point range. The Tigers missed 14 of their last 16 three-point attempts.

“It is a horrible feeling for me, knowing there are no more games for me,” Clemson senior forward Sam Perry said. “I just wish we could get it back.”

But they can’t and there’s no reason for any of Clemson’s seniors to feel horrible.

“Those guys were our first recruiting class. They believed when no one else did,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “They took a leap of faith coming to Clemson when our program was down.

“They stayed and they worked and all they did was get better every year. Every team that they played on got appreciably better every year, including this year.”

With Hammonds, Perry and fellow senior James Mays leading the way, Clemson tied a school record with 84 victories and 32 ACC wins the last four years – also tied for first in the program’s history.

They also tied the school record for wins in a season with 25 in 2007 and set a school record for ACC road wins for a four-year period with 10.

“We will be remembered for making Clemson basketball relevant again,” Perry said. “This is the first time we have a been in the tournament in 10 years. That’s a big accomplishment and we have a list of things that we have done since we have been here.

“Just to do that is definitely something I can take with me and it will always be in the history books.”

This year’s senior also helped take Clemson to its first ACC Championship game in 46 years and became just the second class in school history to record back-to-back 20 win seasons. In fact, the Tigers two-year total of 49 victories is the best two-year stretch in school history.

“They went to postseason play all four years and then got to the NCAAs this year,” Purnell said. “I can’t say enough about what they’ve done and the impact that they’ve had on our basketball program.”

But no one at Clemson expected it all to come to an end in Tampa, not win the team was playing its best basketball and was perhaps at its healthiest all year.

“It hurts right now. I put my heart and soul into this team along with everyone else, and it really hurts,” Mays said. “I try to hold back all of my emotion, but it hurts.”

Mays says he and his teammates have no reason to hold their heads down because they exited the NCAA Tournament earlier than expected. He says he will leave Clemson with his head held high knowing he has become a better basketball player, and more importantly, a better man because of it.

“From where I came in as a freshman to now, as a person I have grown so much,” he said. “As a team we have grown so much that I feel like I became a man here at Clemson. I have learned a lot of things from a lot of people and I would not change any of it for the world.

“I’m glad I came to Clemson. When I look back, I can definitely leave here and feel proud that we seniors left a mark on this program.”