Last summer, Sam Russ was finally on her way to becoming a Tiger. She traveled past the orange-painted paws dotting Pendleton Road as it nears campus. She swung by the place where she would live if she transferred to Clemson’s softball program, which didn’t truly exist when her college career started at N.C. State in 2018.
Before her campus tour, though, there was another stop to make. Sam pulled off Pendleton Road into a nondescript parking lot across from a church. In a small brick building, sometimes covered in green ivy, was Mac’s Drive In.
This detour was more for Sam’s dad, Frank, who spent many a night in Mac’s when he was an infielder for Clemson in the early 1980s. It was a go-to following a long practice, as athletes chatted up Mac himself, ordering all the burgers, hot dogs, and shakes they wanted. The final bill always added up to $2 for a Clemson baseball player.
“He was over the moon,” Sam recalled of that trip to Mac’s during her recruiting visit. “He had gone there so many times in his time here, he was so happy to see it was still up and running. We stopped by and got a burger, got some fries, and he sat and told me about the times he spent there.”
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