Spiller honored by SC Hall of Fame

Unanimous first-team football All-American and ACC Player of the Year C.J. Spiller has been named as the Banks McFadden Male Athlete-of-the-Year by the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame as announced by the board Sunday.

The Clemson superstar kick returner will receive the award, sponsored by Defender Services and named in honor of the great former Clemson two-sport All-American, at the SCAHOF’s 50th anniversary banquet on May 24 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Tickets for the event, the largest sports gathering in the Palmetto State, can be obtained by calling 779-0905.

Spiller was the only player in 2009 to score touchdowns in five different ways- rushing, passing, receiving, and on kick off and punt returns. He scored at least once in each game in 2009.

Spiller also established an NCAA record for career kickoff returns for touchdowns with seven. He finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, tied for the highest ranking by a Clemson player.

Spiller, a first-round selection by Buffalo in the recent NFL draft, will be honored along with the 2010 induction class of the Clemson pair of NBA star Horace Grant and NFl lineman Joe Bostic; USC/NFL standout Bill Currier; two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Courtney Shealy Hart of Irmo; longtime Furman tennis coach Paul Scarpa; Western Carolina/MLB’s Wayne Tolleson of Spartanburg; former Wimbeldon and U.S. Open champion Stan Smith of Hilton Head; and USC alum Bob McNair, owner of the NFL Houston Texans and the Stonerside thoroughbred racing stable of Aiken.