Two former Clemson stars where named to the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Class of 2019 on Thursday.
Former Clemson kicker and punter Chris Gardocki and former baseball star Shane Monahan were named to the class, along with former South Carolina women’s basketball coach Nancy Wilson, Gamecock defensive lineman John Abraham, linebacker Dexter Coakley of Mt. Pleasant and Appalachian State, USC-Aiken and former major league pitcher Roberto Hernandez, and high-scoring basketball standout Miriam Walker-Samuels of Claflin College.
Gardocki, who won a Super Bowl title with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was Clemson’s placekicker during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, where he earned second-team All-America honors as a junior and third-team All-America as a sophomore. He was fourth in punting and tied for fourth in placekicking in the nation as a junior becoming the second player in NCAA history to finish in the top 10 in both categories in the same season and the first to do it twice.
Gardocki tied the ACC record for the longest field goal with a 57-yarder against Appalachian State in 1990 and had a pair of four-field-goal games in the same year. He made 72 consecutive PATs to set a Tiger record and never missed one throughout his career.
In his Clemson career, he had 20 multiple field-goal games in his career, and tied Obed Ariri’s career record for field goals with 63. He was named to Clemson’s Centennial Team in 1996, when he was listed as Clemson’s 19th best gridder of all-time by a panel of historians in 1999.
A third-round draft pick of the Bears in 1991 and punted for Chicago (1991-94), Indianapolis (1995-98), Cleveland (1999-03) and Pittsburgh (2004-06). As a member of the Colts, he was an All-Pro selection in 1996. He played 16 seasons in the NFL, more than any other former Tiger.
Gardocki won a Super Bowl ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers after the Steelers wo Super Bowl XL at the end of the 2005 season.
In his first year at Clemson, Monahan produced one of the most successful freshman seasons in history as he was chosen as a first-team freshman All-American after he established six Tiger rookie records. His hit total led the ACC and his .372 batting average was third-best in the league.
As a sophomore, he was named first-team All-America by Baseball America, ABCA and NCBWA, an All-ACC selection and MVP of the ACC Tournament. He totaled 137 hits, the most in the nation and just five shy of the all-time national record.
In 1995, Monahan was selected ACC Player of the Year after batting .394 with 12 home runs and 51 RBI. He led the Tigers to victory at the NCAA East Regional and to the College World Series, where they finished the season with a No. 8 final ranking.
Monahan became the first player in ACC history to be named league MVP, MVP of the ACC Tournament, MVP of an NCAA Regional, and first-team All-American over his career. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 2nd round (33rd overall pick) of the 1995 draft and enjoyed a two-year (1998 & 1999) major league career.
He still holds Tiger season records for hits (137), multiple-hit games (46), singles (94), and runs (97). He also holds the career record for triples (21), is second in hits (337) and total bases (535) and is third in career batting average (.394) and runs (235).
—courtesy S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame
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