2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: No
There were two players selected to the 2003 Top 50 list who never made first team All-ACC: Buck Williams and Tree Rollins. Williams, in my opinion, is indefensible as a Top 50 choice. Rollins has a better case.
While he didn’t make first team All-ACC, he came within a hair’s breadth, twice. In 1975, he finished sixth in the voting, two points behind teammate Skip Wise. Then in 1977, he finished sixth again, three points behind Walter Davis. If you’re wondering about 1976, he was just as good that year, but Clemson had a somewhat disappointing year as a team, and Rollins suffered because of that.
Rollins did receive some national recognition as a third team AP All-American in 1977. I think that validates that he was recognized as an outstanding player nationally.
Another thing I count in his favor is that his value was mostly on defense, and I always feel that defense-first players are undervalued in terms of accolades and recognition, because offense is easier to measure. He’s the greatest shot-blocker in ACC history, still holding the ACC record for blocked shots per game at 4.1. He had two career triple-doubles (points, rebounds, blocks). He is fifth all time in career rebounds. His NBA career, while it doesn’t directly factor into my evaluation, does provide further evidence that he was, in fact, a great defensive player.
We all know about Carolina beating Clemson in Chapel Hill a bajillion times in a row until the Tigers finally got them in 2020. Rollins played a major part, and not in a good way, in one of the most gut-wrenching of those losses in 1975. Clemson blew a 16-point lead to lose 74-72 in a game in which the Tigers went 14-for-32 from the free throw line. Rollins was the worst offender, going 1-for-7 and missing two with 1:45 remaining and the Tigers up one. Clemson did finally overcome the Tar Heels when they came to Littlejohn that year – their first win over UNC since 1967.
After the 1975 season, Clemson as a program looked to be on the verge of something special. They finished 8-4 in the league, their best-ever conference record. They were very young, with one sophomore (Rollins) and three freshmen (Skip Wise, Stan Rome, and Colon Abraham) among their leaders. Wise was a sensation.
Then coach Tates Locke was forced to resign in the face of allegations of recruiting violations, and Wise turned pro. The Tigers still had some talent, but without Wise, they took a step backward in 1976, finishing 5-7 in a tough ACC. In 1977, Bill Foster did an admirable job of getting them back to 8-4 in the league, but their season ended with a loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals. They might have received an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but Locke’s shenanigans had left them on probation, so Rollins’ career was over. We’ll never know, but you can’t help but wonder how things would have turned out for the program, and for Skip Wise, if he had stayed.