Dabo Swinney basically offered this current NBA player a retroactive Clemson football scholarship.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters this week that he has become friends with Clemson’s head coach, who was invited by Spoelstra to attend Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Heat and Philadelphia 76ers on Monday in Miami.
Spoelstra shared a story about Swinney approaching Heat forward PJ Tucker after the game (which the Heat won, 106-92) and telling Tucker (who scored 10 points) that he could have suited up for the Tigers back in the day.
Tucker certainly has a fan in Swinney.
“[Swinney] and I have been friends for a few years. I visited him,” Spoelstra said. “Actually I’m not supposed to say that, right. I’m not going to tell you guys what I do during the summer.
“All right so, as we were hanging out in championship alley after the game, Tuck came by and he was the first guy Dabo went up to and he said, ‘Man, I love the way you play. I love the way you compete. You could have played for us back in the day.’ That’s the way P.J. is. He’s extremely physical, obviously. He’s really competitive. He’s all about the plays in between, the hustle plays, the 50-50s. But he’s able to do it with an incredible discipline and a mind. I think that really is what separates him from just being an overly physical guy that’s just picking up six fouls in 10 minutes. PJ has a great feel and IQ for the game, and he does it on both ends for us. That’s really important. It’s equally important what he does offensively for us.”
With Naz Bohannon attempting to make the basketball-to-football jump, Dabo Swinney (via the Heat's Erik Spoelstra) seems to be a time machine away from retroactively recruiting PJ Tucker to come catch passes from Charlie Whitehurst. pic.twitter.com/oz3GrXheSt
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