SYRACUSE – During a team meeting the night before Clemson University men’s basketball is set to play Syracuse on the road in its second ACC game of the season, something special happened.

Head coach Brad Brownell gathered the team and began to start a dialogue of what it is like to be a coach and to see player development first hand. Not just on the court, but in all aspects.

Coach Brownell concluded his speech to the team with, “Something special is about to happen…” That something special was awarding fourth-year walk-on senior guard Lyles Davis a scholarship for his last semester of school.

Last Spring, Davis was awarded the “Academic Excellence” Award, presented each year at the Tigers’ basketball banquet by academic advisor Leslie Moreland-Bishop.

Davis is also a two-time winner of the “Man of the Month” Award, presented monthly by director of basketball strength and conditioning Mike Bewley. The award is graded out over the course of a month and on a weekly basis. Each student-athlete is graded after each practice session by their position coach, after each strength session by coach Bewley and twice per week academically.