These lawyers have degrees from Clemson and USC. Their loyalty is not in doubt
Chad Echols walked across the graduation stage as a newly minted lawyer. He shook hands with the dean of the University of South Carolina’s School of Law, John E. Montgomery.
This was 2002 and Montgomery was a year away from ending his 16-year run leading the law school — which is to say, he shook a lot of hands and exchanged who knows how many quick pleasantries. He also knew how to sort out his students. Montgomery looked at Echols’ tie. It was orange.
“I guess I know where you came from,” Montgomery said.
“Yes, sir,” Echols responded, grabbing his South Carolina diploma and walking off the stage.
Years later, inside his law office, Echols’ USC law degree hangs right next to his undergrad degree from Clemson University. He is one of the many lawyers across the Palmetto State who find themselves in this weird middle ground of one of the best rivalries in college athletics.
Except, to them — especially leading up to Saturday’s matchup between the Gamecocks and Tigers — there is no neutrality.
“I certainly credit my time at Carolina for my legal career,” said Echols, a Partner at the Frost Echols law firm in Rock Hill. “But my heart and my money and my fandom go to Clemson.”
That trend will likely continue. There are currently 649 students enrolled at South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law and nearly 100 of them earned their undergraduate degree at Clemson. Even more: This year alone, 35 Clemson grads enrolled at the South Carolina School of Law— making it, by far, the law school’s largest feeder institution other than USC itself.
Naturally, the Clemson grads who end up at South Carolina often find each other quickly.
“We kind of banded together,” Echols said. “Most of us knew each other from Clemson.”
“A couple of them were my fraternity brothers, so that was easy,” added Duffie Powers (Clemson ‘99 // USC Law ‘05). “But, oh yeah, you identify who the Clemson fans are — real quick.”
Even while living in Columbia for law school, Powers — like many other Clemson undergrads who attended USC Law — would drive back to his alma mater for every Clemson home game, never giving any thought to attending a game at Williams-Brice Stadium that didn’t involve the Tigers.
“Are you kidding me?” He said. “No.”
Others — like current Camden Mayor Vincent Sheheen (Clemson ‘89 // USC Law ‘93) — decided to take advantage of South Carolina’s student tickets. And that led to an interesting gameday situation.
“My wife was even more of a Clemson football die-hard than me,” he told The State. “We went to one of the games ... and she’s outfitted completely in orange in the USC section — and this is the Carolina-Clemson game. She gets in a shouting match with the people next to us and I’m like, ‘We have to leave.’ So, yeah, that kind of conflict can arise.”
Does that conflict ever bleed into the Legislature or the courtroom?
“To my politician sisters’ and brothers’ credit,” said Sheheen, a lifelong Clemson fan who served in the South Carolina Senate from 2004 to 2020. “... I know plenty of them who are anti-Clemon or anti-USC but when the teams perform well, everybody steps up to celebrate it.”
“When you’re around the judges, you tend to kind of keep your mouth shut,” Powers said. “Unless they’re Clemson fans — then I know I can just kind of unload. ... I wear my Clemson ring rolling in and sometimes judges notice things like that.”
Can loyalty be swayed?
Perhaps, in different circumstances, this would be examined under the microscope of treason. How could you possibly call yourself a Clemson fan while choosing to be a Gamecock?
Well, it should be known that until 2003 — when the Charleston School of Law was established — the only law school in the state was at South Carolina. And for those wondering: Sure, but couldn’t you just attend a law school in another state? It’s not quite that simple.
“If you’re gonna practice law in this state, you need to go to (USC),” Powers said. “All your classmates are going to be either opposing counsel or co-workers; or they’re going to be the judges (or) legislators.”
Talking with a half-dozen Clemson grads who earned their law degree at South Carolina, the law school might as well be its own country.
“As far as I’m concerned,” said James Brogdon (Clemson ‘07 // USC Law ‘10), “the law school is not affiliated with the Gamecocks.”
In some fantasy land where rivalries don’t exist, holding a degree from both South Carolina and Clemson might be a holy grail. It’s basically dual-citizenship. You could pick and choose when to show your Clemson or USC loyalty. At minimum, you’ve got two different conversation starters.
That notion, of course, was blasphemy to those with the actual credentials.
“I would never pretend to be a South Carolina fan,” said Greenville native Chris King (Clemson ‘01 // USC Law ‘08). “Honestly, I don’t know what kind of door it would open for you.”
Chad Abramson (Clemson ‘93 // USC Law ‘99) agrees. At the thought of someone attending Clemson undergrad and USC Law and rooting for both schools, he seems disgusted.
“(They’re) certainly not switching allegiances,” he said. “It’s just not gonna happen.”
Granted, Abramson is not exactly a casual fan. Back in college, he was so fed up with Clemson head coach Ken Hatfield that he started a movement in 1993 to bring former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka out of retirement to coach the Tigers — which, he said, included calling ESPN’s Chris Fowler to try and talk him into mentioning it on the “College GameDay” TV show.
“Allegedly, he said there were two schools he’d coach at: Notre Dame and Clemson. I don’t know if he ever said it. But I took it and ran with it,” Abramson said. “I made a flyer of Mike Ditka pointing his finger like Uncle Sam ... and I got the (fraternity) pledges to plaster the campus with these flyers.”
“(It was) propaganda to try and push Hatfield out,” Abramson says. “... And then we hire Tommy West.”
Abramson is yelling through the phone. It has been over 30 years and it doesn’t matter. The sheer thought of Clemson hiring Tommy West — who went 4-7 the year before at Chattanooga — “because” Abramson said, “he worked for Danny Ford and he talks like a redneck,” is still infuriating.
And inside his law office — beside his Clemson degree — hangs a diploma from The University of South Carolina.
