Jan. 21, 2009

By Jim Sumner
theACC.com

If you were a Clemson basketball fan in the 1960s — indeed an ACC basketball fan — then you probably remember the Mahaffey brothers.

It was hard to miss them. Tom, Donnie, Randy, and Richie — at least one played for every Clemson basketball varsity basketball team from 1960 through 1970. They were all about the same size, 6’7” to 6’8”, 215 to 220 pounds. All were tough inside players, who could score, defend, and rebound.

Oh, how they could rebound. Randy Mahaffey averaged 9.7 rebounds per game at Clemson. That’s fifth on the school’s all-time list. Richie ranks sixth, Tom eighth, and Donnie ninth. Excluding 1969, when Richie missed much of the season with a leg problem, a Mahaffey led Clemson in rebounding every year from 1960 through 1970.

Tom Mahaffey says his high school coach A.C. Mariotti emphasized rebounding. “He told us we couldn’t score if we didn’t have the ball and rebounding was a great way to get the ball.”

It’s no coincidence that the Mahaffeys excelled in this most blue-collar of basketball skills. Randy Mahaffey says rebounding “didn’t take brains, didn’t take finesse. It just took effort.”

The Mahaffeys had learned the lessons of effort and hard work long before they got to high school. Tom, the oldest, recalls having a paper route when he was seven. Donnie says he and his older brother sold Coca-Cola door to door while in elementary school, taking their product up and down the streets of LaGrange, Georgia, in a wagon. Working in the family garden was as natural as breathing.

“We weren’t poor,” says Donnie. “My parents just believed in hard work. They set the example and they demanded the same from us.”

The Mahaffeys also inherited athletic genes from both parents. Howard Mahaffey, a textile supervisor, had played baseball at Clemson, while his wife Louise had played basketball at Asheville Women’s College.

The Mahaffeys made the four-hour trip from LaGrange to Clemson for a football game every year or two. Tom Mahaffey laughs, “We weren’t totally brainwashed but we certainly knew where Clemson was.” Don says, “There was absolutely no pressure to go to Clemson. It was our choice.”

In fact, Tom seriously considered Auburn, Maryland, and Mississippi before deciding to go to Clemson. He cites the lure of the ACC as pivotal. After the mandatory season on the freshman team, he moved into the starting lineup in 1960.

In those days, Clemson was a football powerhouse and basketball did not get the same attention. It was an uphill battle against North Carolina’s Big Four and Maryland’s solid program.

Head Coach Press Maravich was a Pennsylvanian who tried to close the gap by recruiting his native area. The 1960 Clemson team had six players from Pennsylvania, one from New Jersey, another from West Virginia. But Tom says, “We got along great. We all had the same goal.”

Tom’s best season was 1961, his junior year, when he averaged 13 points and over 11 rebounds per game; the latter figure ranked third in the ACC. He had 16 double-doubles, including a 25-point, 20-rebound game against South Carolina.

Injuries held him back some his senior season but his college career ended on an up note. Sophomore Donnie had joined Tom in the starting lineup. The prep player of the year in Georgia, Donnie says he would have gone to the Air Force Academy had his height not eliminated that possibility.

Like his older brother, Donnie moved right into the starting lineup and filled the void caused by Tom’s injury-related absence. Tom says, “I thought it was pretty neat to play with my brother. I still do.”

Clemson entered the 1962 ACC Tournament 4-10 in the league, sixth place. It was Clemson’s ninth-straight ACC losing season. The streak might have been longer, except that the league was only in its ninth season.

The ACC Tournament hadn’t been any kinder to the Tigers. They were 0-8 up that point. Tom Mahaffey says, “We were in for one and out for one.”

Not in 1962. Tom Mahaffey had 15 points and 16 rebounds to spark Clemson to a 67-46 upset over Everett Case’s third-seeded NC State Wolfpack; remember, the tournament was held at Reynolds Coliseum on the NC State campus in 1962.

But the big shocker came the following day. Clemson spotted eighth-ranked and second-seeded Duke a 10-point second-half lead before storming back for an improbable 77-72 win. Tom was in foul trouble much of the game but Donnie pulled down 11 rebounds for the winners.

Wake Forest ended Clemson’s season 77-66 in the title game. Donnie Mahaffey had a game-high 11 rebounds but couldn’t stop Wake’s All-Americaan Len Chappell, who scored 31 points. “I’d put my hands in his face, block his vision, do anything I could,” recalls Donnie. “But nothing helped. He had radar.”

Still, Tom says, “This was the highlight of my playing career... an awesome experience. I think it helped put Clemson basketball on the map.”

Best of all, Clemson’s 1962 run was fueled by a deep and talented sophomore class, led by Donnie Mahaffey and high-scoring guard Jim Brennan. Hopes were sky-high for the next few years.

Maravich left Clemson following the 1962 season and was replaced by Bobby Roberts. After a surprisingly so-so 12-13 mark in 1963, Brennan, Mahaffey and company put together a big senior season in 1964; a third-place tie, the best regular-season ACC finish in school history.

Clemson entered the 1964 ACC Tournament having won three straight contests, all in the conference. Donnie had 10 rebounds as Clemson defeated Maryland in the opener. But Wake Forest easily handled Clemson in the semifinals, 86-64. Donnie Mahaffey had 12 points and 13 rebounds in his final college game.

Donnie had been the ACC’s third-leading rebounder in 1963 with 10.7 per game. He was sixth as a senior in 1964. He had 20 or more rebounds four times in 1963, topped by a 25-rebound effort against Georgia, still second in school history.

Donnie says, “We had good games but not consistently. We just couldn’t gel at the same time. I think we could have done better.”

Randy was next. He turned down Adolph Rupp and Kentucky to follow in his brothers’ footsteps. Going to Clemson was “a natural process. I was never told I

had to go there or anything but it just made sense.”

Randy was the best player of the family, certainly the most gifted athletically. He liked to face the basket and was effective driving to the hoop. Donnie says, “Randy’s motor was tuned up a notch or two higher. He could do things we couldn’t.”

Former Duke center Mike Lewis played against Randy Mahaffey in the ACC and later in the pros. He still remembers his counterpart 40 years later. “Randy was fast, could jump, and was smart. He played hard, always gave 100 percent, never took a play off. He was tough to play against.”

Randy became the only member of the family to make All-ACC, being selected second team in 1965 and first-team in 1967. A Pre-Med major, Mahaffey was Academic All-ACC in 1965, 1966, and 1967.

Clemson went 8-6 in the ACC in 1966, 15-10 overall. The following year, Randy’s senior season, was Clemson’s best in 15 years. Randy averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game, while sophomore Richie added 10 points and 8 rebounds.

The season peaked during a seven-game winning streak in February. Randy had 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 20-point win over NC State and 22 points and 16 rebounds in a 70-68 victory over Wake Forest.

But the highlights were a pair of victories over the league’s heavyweights. Senior guard Jim Sutherland scored 30 points, while Richie Mahaffey added 17 points and 14 rebounds as Duke fell 73-68 on Valentine’s Day. It was Clemson’s first victory over Duke since that 1962 ACC Tournament.

Four days later, Clemson went into Charlotte for the North-South doubleheader and upended fourth-ranked North Carolina 92-88. Going against 6’11” Rusty Clark, Randy had the best game of his college career: 31 points and 10 rebounds. This marked the first time since the inception of the ACC that Clemson had defeated each of the four North Carolina schools in the same season.

Again the season ended in the ACC Tournament, again at the hands of Wake Forest, 63-61. Randy had 21 points and 14 rebounds. Still, Clemson finished 17-8 and 9-5 in the ACC. That would get you a five-seed or so in the NCAA Tournament these days but netted Clemson nothing in 1967.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, six of their top seven players in 1967 were seniors. High-scoring guard Butch Zatezalo joined the squad but he and Richie Mahaffey were about it. Richie averaged 16.6 points and 11.5 rebounds (4th in the ACC) but Clemson finished 4-20.

A staph infection prematurely ended Richie’s 1969 season but he was granted an extra season in 1970. He averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds in a 7-19 season. Richie also was named Academic All-America in 1968. His 250 free throw attempts in 1968 remains a Clemson record.

The brothers teamed up over the years in high-quality, rec-league ball, especially for their church team, Decatur Baptist. Randy was the only one of the brothers to make it in the pros. He played four seasons in the ABA, averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds per game and playing in the 1968 ABA All-Star game.

Randy was accepted into the University of Tennessee Medical School but pro basketball precluded his enrollment. He still wonders what might have been but says he “has no regrets. I helped build a great business and helped a lot of people.”

That business started in 1968. It was a building supply business called Ply-Mart.

It was Donnie’s idea. “I always wanted to have a family business, something we could all share. But I never talked about it. I just brought it up one day.”

Tom was in textile management and had even picked up a Master’s degree in the field from Georgia Tech. But he bought in to his brother’s vision. Fifteen thousand dollars and lots of sweat equity later, they had their dream.

Randy and Richie joined as their playing careers ended. The quartet carried those hard-work lessons from the hardcourt to Ply-Mart, making it a multi-million dollar success story.

That was until the mortgage crisis hit. Owed millions by customers who were unable to pay, Ply-Mart went out of business last year. Tom had already retired and is now in real estate. Randy and Richie are putting together another building supply business, PMC Building Company.

The quartet gets back to Clemson when they can. All but Tom made it back recently for a basketball alumni function this season, but all four did make it back last season.

Randy, who is a member of both the Clemson and State of South Carolina sports halls of fame, calls Clemson a “special place,” adding, “There’s no pretension about the place, the people are cordial and have fun and helping people is a priority.”

Jim Sumner's articles on southern sports history have appeared in the ACC Handbook, the ACC Area Sports Journal, Blue Devil Weekly, Inside Carolina, the Wolfpacker, Baseball America, Basketball America, and other publications. His latest book, Tales From the Duke Blue Devils Hardwood, was published in 2005. In his bimonthly column "Looking Back... by Jim Sumner", he will examine the rich history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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