Controversial social media posts circulate after Clemson’s Ladies Clinic

CLEMSON, S.C. (WOLO) – On Saturday, July 21, Clemson hosted the 10th annual Dabo Swinney Ladies Clinic, where a record crowd of over 3,000 women attended Littlejohn Coliseum to help raise money towards fighting breast cancer in the Upstate.

Guests helped raise over $350,000 that will go directly towards research, prevention, and awareness to battle the disease. $250,000 is going to the Greenville Health System to pay for a mobile mammography van to help travel around the area and help women detect signs of cancer. Another $100,000 is going to Oconee Memorial Hospital.

But following the good accomplished that day on Clemson’s campus, a stir on social media began when images leaked from the clinic hit the web. Clemson players were seen posing shirtless in a picture, while defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was shown in a video holding the hand of and leading one of the attendees to a chair on the arena floor, then later ripping his own shirt off, and proceeding to perform a striptease during a portion of the event.

Clemson Sports Information Director Ross Taylor told ABC Columbia Sports Monday night that Wilkins’ dance was part of the program called “Dancing with the Tigers”.

“The video that’s made the rounds certainly isn’t indicative of the dance portion of the event, nor really of the day as a whole, which resulted in the program being able to raise more than $350,000 to support breast cancer detection, research, treatment, and awareness throughout the region,” Taylor said.

It’s one of several events that took place during the clinic, which includes demonstrations from both offensive and defensive coaches showcasing their philosophies that carry over on the field during Saturdays in the fall.

Taylor added that other contestants in the dancing portion of the clinic had much less risque performances that differed greatly from the viral video. “Clelin Ferrell was dancing with his mother,” Taylor said. Guest speaker, ESPN reporter, and breast cancer survivor Holly Rowe and the crowd each determined the winner, which was one of the contestants who was “swag surfing”.

The photo of shirtless, posing Clemson players that also gained traction on the Internet in the days following the event was taken during the strength and conditioning expo. The initial plan was to bring weights into the program and perform a lifting demonstration, but with the event being moved to Littlejohn due to the crowd’s large capacity, the team was not allowed to bring the heavy equipment on the court.

“In lieu of having that for a demonstration, they elected to do a bodybuilding competition, just like any bodybuilding competition seen on ESPN or ESPN2,” Taylor said. The competition was separated into three divisions: lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight. The athletes then were challenged to a pose-off as one would see in a professional contest.