Take a look at the schedule. No sane person would conclude that it is a tough schedule. Assuming a win in the three cupcake games, Clemson only has to go 3-6 in its remaining nine games to be bowl eligible. And they get to do it in the sub-par ACC.

RAY OLSZEWSKI | Columbia

Kiffin reminds reader of a young Spurrier

Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin is a hip, young, dynamic and charismatic coach. He is not an idiot. He is an exceptional young coach who reminds me of Steve Spurrier when he got the Duke job in the 1980s.

Steve Spurrier’s USC football team will bus to North Carolina State for its season-opening game in September, saving the athletics department approximately $15,000. Like all Clemson employees, football coach Dabo Swinney and men’s basketball coach Oliver Purnell have been subject to five-day furloughs, which translates into a $7,600 salary savings for the athletics department.

USC and Clemson are examining budgets and looking for areas to trim costs. Should the economy worsen, it is conceivable schools could discontinue the practice of housing football teams in a hotel the night before home games (USC would save approximately $120,000 this coming season) and eliminate pregame meals for the media and athletics officials at home football games (savings of approximately $31,500 for USC).

“We have to be cautious,” says Eric Hyman, USC’s athletics director. “I’m always trying to be prudent in what we do. But sometimes people aren’t as prudent as I’d like for them to be. Going forward, I think people recognize the times are different.”

At Clemson, Katie Hill is the senior associate athletics director in charge of internal affairs, including the budget. She said escalating fuel costs a year ago ignited efforts throughout the athletics department to begin scaling back, particularly in travel for nonconference events.

Now 24, Priester — who says he was inspired by Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters victory — developed his game at Junior Golf Land and became a special project for Fairway Outreach and director Bobby Foster after Priester’s father died in a 2001 fire at the family home.

After graduating from A.C. Flora and the United States Military Academy at West Point, Priester was commissioned in May as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He recently underwent combat training at Fort Benning in Georgia.

Priester is the subject of a recent article by the U.S. Golf Association’s Rhonda Glenn. Glenn recounts Priester’s life story, starting when he was learning the game from his golf-crazed great-uncles Alvin Walker and Charles Samuel and grandfather Henry Walker. She includes the family’s struggles after Priester’s father’s death.

Glenn calls Priester “a face on the long-awaited impact of the ‘Tiger Boom’” that golf officials hoped would spur play by minority youngsters.

The incident occurred on the 700 block of Huger Street around 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

The driver of a 2004 Toyota Camry was traveling northbound on Huger Street and made an abrupt right turn and into a building, police said. The driver was transported to Palmetto Health Richland Hospital and pronounced dead. A passenger in the vehicle suffered no major injuries.

Columbia Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit responded to the wreck along with Columbia Fire Department and Richland County EMS.

The wreck is still under investigation.

Jason Flagler had 14 points and Jessie Burton and Carrio Bennett had 11 apiece for the Bulldogs (13-12, 8-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).

The Bulldogs have won three straight games and seven of their last nine.

Michael Deloach led the Spartans (8-16, 6-7) with 26 points, while Joe Dorsett-Jeffreys had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Corey Lyons finished with 11 points for the Spartans, who have lost three games in a row and five of six.

Norfolk State led by four points at the break, but South Carolina State outscored the Spartans 47-33 to seal the win in the second half.

Downey's pair of free throws with 12 seconds left gave the Gamecocks (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) a 78-74 lead — the first time either team had been up by more than 3 since just under nine minutes to go in regulation.

After Jason Henry hit a 3-pointer for the Razorbacks (13-12, 1-11), Zam Fredrick made two free throws with 5.3 seconds left to stretch the Gamecocks' lead to three. Downey then fouled Henry with 2.1 seconds left before he could try his own tying 3. Henry made the first, but committed a lane violation as he tried to rebound his intentional miss on his second attempt.

Henry had a career-high 27 off the bench to lead Arkansas.

With the win, South Carolina remains in a tie for the lead in the SEC East with Florida and Kentucky. The Wildcats come to Columbia Wednesday, as the Gamecocks will try to sweep them for only the second time since joining the SEC in 1991.