Bobby Couch had a big job at Clemson when he was a major fundraiser for IPTAY.
But that's not what Dan Radakovich was angry about when he called Couch to his office one day a decade or so ago.
Radakovich wanted to talk to Couch about his other, more unofficial job: Commissioner of the Noon Time Basketball Association.
The NTBA, played on weekdays, was largely athletics department staffers and personnel from the football and basketball teams.
But one day an outsider showed up wearing...
Bobby Couch had a big job at Clemson when he was a major fundraiser for IPTAY.
But that's not what Dan Radakovich was angry about when he called Couch to his office one day a decade or so ago.
Radakovich wanted to talk to Couch about his other, more unofficial job: Commissioner of the Noon Time Basketball Association.
The NTBA, played on weekdays, was largely athletics department staffers and personnel from the football and basketball teams.
But one day an outsider showed up wearing Gamecock gear, and Dabo Swinney gave him some grief over it. The guy didn't take kindly to it, and the confrontation got nasty and was about to get physical.
The spat was resolved, but it got the attention of Radakovich and the ritual NTBA games were put on a lengthy hiatus while Couch could trim the roster of invitees.
"Here I am getting called to the principal's office not as a senior associate director of IPTAY, but for my role as NTBA commissioner," Couch said. "He's basically telling me I've got to shut this thing down.
"Of course the first person who called me after we shut it down and asked me what the heck was going on was Coach Swinney, because he wanted to get back out on the court. I'm like: 'Hey dude. We had to shut this thing down because of you.'"
Couch also remembers Brent Venables showing up to a noontime game wearing a mouthpiece.
The ferocious Venables ended up accidentally jabbing Couch in face and giving him a huge black eye. Two days later, Couch had to speak to a large donor group the day the Tigers were facing Georgia in Athens.
Those are just two of many memories that come flooding back about the NTBA days with Clemson (and NTBA) alum Will Wade about to face Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
We also interview Chad Lampman, a Clemson alum who preceded Couch as NTBA commissioner before he left for a position at Duke where he's been for 15 years.
And UNC Asheville basketball coach Michael Morrell joins the podcast to share his most vivid memories of the NTBA.
To Morrell, those games encapsulated the rare bond at Clemson shared among the staffs regardless of sport.
"There's just something different about that place, man," said Morrell, who was on Oliver Purnell's staff. "There's just something different there that's special.
"I always thought it was cool how the football and basketball staffs there found ways to have relationships. I was on the basketball staff at Texas for three years, and no offense to Texas but I didn't even know the football coaches there. Didn't even know them.
"But at Clemson you knew everybody, man. And it still seems like it's the same for them there now. Gosh, man. What a cool place to be a player, a coach, a writer or whatever. Because it's not that way everywhere."
