Public Enemy

At the start of May, Phil Kornblut ran an article stating that Ole Miss basketball player Murphy Holloway was a “done deal” to transfer to Clemson thanks to a “source”. CUTigers.com following Kornblut’s lead and ran a headline about Clemson receiving Holloway’s transfer and later ESPN picked up the story and ran it on their ticker. Last week, Ole Miss’ Athletic Director denied Holloway’s transfer request to Clemson citing “drumbeats” that Clemson had contacted Holloway prior to his release from Ole Miss as his rationale for denying the release to Clemson.



To our knowledge, Clemson made no improper contact with Holloway and operated completely under the NCAA rules and regulations, but Kornblut’s article, CUTigers’ article and ESPN picking-up the story was enough smoke for Ole Miss’ AD to think that Clemson had tampered with Holloway.

Ultimately an irresponsible article by Kornblut did nothing but hurt Clemson's chances to land Holloway.

This is nothing new. Kornblut has antagonized Clemson for years.

Who can forget Kornblut’s “on air/off air” attack on Tommy Bowden several years ago?

Kornblut's Attack on Tommy Bowden

Or Kornblut’s interview with CJ Spiller’s Mom about CJ transferring to Florida?

Kornblut has also allegedly repeatedly phoned prospects that Clemson and South Carolina are battling for while Clemson coaches are present in an effort to be disruptive and break up the rhythm of the in-home visit.

Kornblut does not have much of a relationship with anyone at Clemson. Kornblut was not popular with Tommy West or his staff at Clemson, Kornblut was not popular with Tommy Bowden or his staff at Clemson, and Kornblut is not popular with Dabo Swinney or his staff. Nothing is different in regards to basketball as Oliver Purnell’s staff did not trust him, and you can certainly imagine how Brad Brownell and his staff feel about Kornblut right now.

On the other hand, Kornblut is, allegedly, very close with several current and former South Carolina coaches. He has a strong relationship with USC assistants Brad Lawing and Ellis Johnson, and former assistants Dave Roberts and Ron Cooper.

Former Clemson assistant coach Rich Bisaccia had a strong relationship with Kornblut while Bisaccia was the recruiting coordinator for USC. When Bisaccia left USC for Clemson, he cut Kornblut off. That should say it all about the level of trust Kornblut has at Clemson.

Phil Kornblut is not an unbiased journalist. He is a USC alumnus with a strong anti-Clemson agenda. He has been persona non-grata as far as Clemson coaches are concerned for over a decade. But for whatever reason, Kornblut is still allowed to attend Clemson sporting events as a media member, eat Clemson’s food and sits in Clemson’s press row where Kornblut has been caught browsing USC fan websites and listening to USC Athletic events on the radio.

Kornblut then returns to Columbia, where he gets on the radio and rips Clemson.

But for whatever reason, Clemson’s athletic leadership does nothing to eradicate this problem. Terry Don Phillips has the power to sign off on Clemson’s Sports Information Department blackballing Kornblut, but this has yet to take place. Why has this not been done? How much more will Kornblut hurt Clemson before TDP wakes up and takes action against Kornblut?

This man must be removed from covering all Clemson athletics events immediately. His reputation and credibility in Clemson have been in question for well over a decade. Very few Clemson fans take him seriously, and his reputation falls further with each stunt he pulls. In fact, he has graduated from simply insulting Clemson and Clemson coaches on the radio and annoying our coaches and recruits to directly hurting Clemson on the recruiting trail through his behavior.

To paraphrase Kornblut, Terry Don Phillips, “in your heart of hearts,” you know that it’s long past time to pull the plug on Phil Kornblut. Once and for all, get this man the hell out of our athletics venues.

We encourage everybody to call and email TDP and demand that Kornblut's Clemson Media credentials be revoked.

pterry@clemson.edu
(864) 656-1935