This academic year, Clemson will spend more than $2.7 million on football scholarships for 85 players. The money will cover their tuition, room, board, books, meals, fees and transportation for school.

Those players will meet, train and lounge in the immaculate Reeves Football Complex, the $55 million, 142,500-square-foot facility equipped with meeting, office, nutrition, weightlifting and wellness areas, as well as a barber shop, bowling alley, nap room, outdoor basketball court and a miniature golf course.

They will play in a recently renovated Memorial Stadium. They will dine under the guidance of a sports nutritionist. They will study with academic advisers. They will meet with life skills counselors.

The resources are provided through the Clemson athletics fundraising organization, IPTAY.

Founded in 1934, the name was a testament to the simple vow that "I Pay Ten A Year" to support Clemson football. Today, the acronym remains to honor the organization's history, but all of its 17,000 members give much more than $10 per year.

Half of the members donated at least $1,600 last year, according to the organization's annual review. Their donations grant them access to season tickets and parking at football and basketball events, based on their giving levels.

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Those gifts are the central component in Clemson's financial formula. According to the Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, without IPTAY, Clemson could not keep pace in the college football's incessant arms race. It could not cover the scholarships and cost of attendance stipends for its athletes. It could not pay for those construction projects. It could not afford the decade of success it has enjoyed.

"Without IPTAY, we would not be where we are today," Radakovich said. "All athletic programs have fundraising organizations, because that's just how this all works. Each place is a little different on what they do. Their ability to cover the cost of athletic scholarships is fairly normal. But certainly here at Clemson, IPTAY does so much more."

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Over the next few weeks, The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail will chronicle the transformation of Clemson's football program. We will recount what pushed the Tigers to the top and examine what it will take for them to stay there.

In 2019, Clemson could take the final step to becoming an indisputable dynasty. Clemson would not have reached this peak without the the thrust of IPTAY. According to IPTAY CEO Davis Babb, the organization raised approximately $360 million through the past six years.

Classified as an independent nonprofit charitable organization, IPTAY spearheads fundraising for facilities upgrades. It funds the sports nutrition, strength and conditioning, counseling and academic support programs. It covers salaries for its 21-member staff. It also funds the marching band and scholarships for more than 500 athletes in all 19 varsity sports.

"The fact is we're not going to have the revenue that an (Southeastern Conference) school would have, and so it's incumbent on us to make up for that by raising private support," Babb said. "Our donors have been fantastic, but we've got to keep doing that because we want to keep this athletic program at the level that it is now.”

Despite the consistent support of IPTAY, Clemson's pockets are not as deep as its competitive peers. According to figures compiled by USA TODAYSports, during the 2017 fiscal year, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Louisiana State, Tennessee and South Carolina each generated at least $135 million from ticket sales, television and licensing deals, student fees and contributions.

Clemson generated $112.6 million.

The biggest discrepancy between Clemson and its peers is the lucrative linear television networks established by other conferences. In each of the past three years, the SEC, anchored by its SEC Network, distributed at least $40 million to its member schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference never distributed more than $26 million in any of those years.

The ACC Network is scheduled to launch in August. It is expected to produce additional revenue for each member school within the next three seasons. But success cannot wait on a promissory note. In the meantime, IPTAY has helped Clemson mitigate the revenue gap.

According to the USA TODAYSports compilation, through the 2016 and 2017 academic years, Clemson generated more revenue from contributions than Alabama, South Carolina, Penn State, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Iowa, Washington and Michigan State.

In each of the past four years, IPTAY raised at least $20.5 million in its annual fund, which supplies cash directly to the athletic department, according to a copy of the organization's annual review. In 2018, it raised $38.2 million in its annual fund, $15.1 million in major gifts, including cash, real estate and securities, $5.1 million in planned gifts and endowments and $6.6 million in premium seating and suites in Memorial Stadium, the basketball arena Littlejohn Coliseum and the baseball park Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

NCAA Finances: College revenues

“What we're trying to do is create opportunities for young people that go beyond just their four or five years here,” Babb said. “Yes, they're competing, but if we're doing our jobs right, we're helping them prepare for life."

As a top defensive end recruit in the class of 2015, Clelin Ferrell attracted offers from several major programs, including Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State, Penn State and Wisconsin. He could have reached the National Football League from any of them, but he chose Clemson for what it could provide beyond football.

“Even more than Clemson being the place I wanted to be, I felt this was the place I needed to be,” said Ferrell, who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in April.

“IPTAY support has been huge," he said. "The programs IPTAY provides are so important. PAW Journey helped me develop as a leader on and off the field,” Ferrell said of the life skills and career development program housed in the Reeves Complex that IPTAY supports.

“A donor may say, ‘I saw Coach X got this contract, I guess y'all are going to go up on our dues,’” Babb said. “Well, not necessarily, because we're not paying for coaches' salaries and recruiting and team travel and equipment. That's just not what we do. What we're doing is a lot of behind the scenes. That's a good thing for us, because it's all student-athlete focused. That's what the organization was founded on.”

The first IPTAY constitution, drafted by founder Rupert Fike and first members Milton Berry, Gene Cox, Bill Dukes, E.C. Hutchings, George Klugh, J.R. Pennell, Jack Mitchell and George Suggs, declared that “anyone who has matriculated at Clemson, has been employed by the college or is a friend of the college” could join “by taking the oath of secrecy and paying the initiation and yearly fees when invited for membership.”

In its first year, IPTAY grew to 162 members and set a goal to raise $10,000 for Clemson's athletic program. It raised less than $2,000. IPTAY abandoned its secret rituals and expanded its membership. It reached that $10,000 goal in 1940, the same year the football team played in its first postseason game, the Cotton Bowl.

Through the next 78 years, Clemson played in 43 more postseason games, including its second Cotton Bowl in 2018. Last year, 809 IPTAY members donated more than $10,000.

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Among the 76 donors who gave more than $25,000 in 2018 are Greenville residents Betty Poe, Billy Patrick, Jack Shaw, Robert and Patricia Jordan and William Sturgis. IPTAY declined to release information on specific donation amounts.

Dean Cox, a commercial realtor from Greenville has given to IPTAY for 20 years. He acknowledges that his donations essentially double the price of his football tickets compared to face value. But watching his team win two national championships while leading its conference in the NCAA academic progress rate justifies the expense, he said.

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“People tell me, 'I can't help it that you're stupid enough to give to IPTAY,' " Cox said. "Some people don't get it. You don't just get great facilities, upgrades and all that. You've got to give to receive.

"If it wasn't for IPTAY, we'd be Wake Forest and Duke," he said. " We wouldn't be Clemson.”

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