Clemson awards basketball star Demontez Stitt posthumous degree

Demontez Stitt was a senior at Clemson University in 2010 when Brad Brownell arrived on campus as the new men's basketball coach. Stitt was on Brownell's team for only one season, but Brownell coached him several years after that.

He continuously urged Stitt to finish one of the few things he ever left unfinished.

"I was always on him to come back and graduate. Made him mad a few times," Brownell said with a laugh.

Stitt withdrew from Clemson to pursue a professional basketball career in Europe. He was only one course shy of completing his bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and tourism management.

"I know he would've eventually come back and gotten it done," Brownell said.

Clemson administrators share Brownell's surmise. This week, the university awarded Stitt his degree — posthumously.

Stitt passed away unexpectedly in July 2016. Brownell said, in regards to Stitt's academic career, he served as an assistant coach under Stitt's grandmother, Gwen, who always emphasized his grade point average over his scoring average.

Brownell presented the degree to Gwen and the Stitt family Wednesday during a ceremony at Clemson Memorial Stadium.

"It was just special," Brownell said. "You could tell it meant a lot to their family."

Brownell credited Clemson president Jim Clements and director of athletic academic advising Leslie Moreland-Bishop for facilitating the honor, but, he said, the chief catalyst was Stitt's former teammate, Terrance Oglesby.

Like Stitt, Oglesby withdrew from Clemson to pursue a pro career. He recently reenrolled through the Tiger Trust program, which covers tuition for former athletes. He completed the 50 credit hours he lacked and graduated this week. While he wrote term papers for his own coursework, Oglesby also wrote letters to Clemson administrators on Stitt's behalf.

"Here's Terrance coming back to finish his education, and he's thinking about a teammate and helping to make this possible," Brownell said. "This was just a nice thing to see, especially with a teammate getting the assist."

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Stitt was on campus less than one year with Brownell. Coaches spend more time simply recruiting players. Nevertheless, in that brief period, Brownell and Stitt forged a lasting bond. Brownell believes it began in their first meeting, when they discovered their kindred competitive spirits.

"His fire matched mine, and we connected very well," Brownell said. "I was always thankful to have had the opportunity to coach him and for him to allow me to coach him the way I did."

In 2010, former coach Oliver Purnell left Clemson abruptly to accept a position at DePaul. Stitt rallied and reassured the returning core of players. He encouraged them to remain at Clemson through the coaching change.

"From day one, he was just very fair to me," Brownell said. "I knew when I got the job —you kind of survey the scene and meet with the players — that he was the heart and soul.

"That was shown that season in the way he played, the way he led, the way he encouraged our team to stick together."

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An aggressive, attacking point guard, Stitt averaged 14.5 points per game that season and led Clemson to its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1997. He is the only Clemson player to start in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He closed his career ranked in the Top 15 in Clemson history with 111 career starts, 419 assists, 164 steals and 1,365 points.

Brownell misses the periodic calls and texts he received from Stitt through the subsequent seasons. He continues to uphold Stitt as the exemplar of toughness and leadership he desires in his program.

"I still talk about him to our team. Every year I usually mention something about him," Brownell said. "He embodied 'Clemson Grit.' He was a fighter, who was always going to persevere."