New baseball locker room named for McCabes

by TigerNet Staff - Wed Sep 28 13:54:39 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON — The Clemson University baseball team will name its new locker room for Jim and Barbara McCabe of Clemson, who have supported the construction with a $100,000 gift.

The gift is part of Clemson’s The Will to Lead capital campaign to raise more than $600 million to support students and faculty. To date, $528 million has been raised. The gift from the McCabes is one of the first in the $50 million athletic facilities initiative announced in January.

Ardent Tiger fans, the McCabes have attended Clemson sporting events for as long as they can remember. They have been IPTAY members for nearly 60 years and also have given generously to the university’s Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

“We’ve been fans of ‘the orange’ since we were born,” Barbara McCabe said.

In 2007 the McCabes worked with Clemson to establish the Brian J. O’Rourke ’83 Unrestricted Endowment for Performing Arts. Named for the couple’s longtime friend and director of Development and Alumni Affairs at Clemson, the $100,000 endowment is unrestricted money the performing arts department uses for scholarships.

Since moving to Clemson from Columbia 21 years ago, the McCabes have not missed a home baseball game and have followed the Tigers to the College World Series five times. They count coach Jack Leggett as a close family friend. They also were close to former coach Bill Wilhelm and former university President Walter Cox. Jim McCabe fondly remembers an exchange he and Cox had about the McCabes’ move to Clemson.

“I remember Walter asking me about all of the friends we would be leaving in Columbia,” said Jim McCabe. “I told him ‘Yes, we are leaving friends in Columbia, but I wanted to see Heaven before I die to see if I like it,’” he recalls with a smile.

In addition to baseball games, the McCabes are avid Tiger football fans. Jim McCabe has attended all but three of the bowl games the Tigers have played. They also attend various functions at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts each year and support the John C. Calhoun Lecture Series.

In 1999 the McCabes provided Clemson athletics with $100,000 for an IPTAY endowment in memory of their friend Joe “Bogie” Bryant, who played center on the football team from 1950-1952.