South Carolina Gov. Haley with her family supporting Clemson football.
It is no coincidence that ever since South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley took office in January 2011, the Clemson University football program has had full access to one of the two state-owned airplanes. The former alum is so proud of her alma mater that she is using her political position for Clemson football gain.
As the governor, she basically handed over the keys to one of the state-owned airplanes to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and his recruiting staff . The state owns a nine-passenger Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 and a six-passenger Hawker Beechcraft King Air C90. Both turboprop planes are to be used for elected officials, state agencies, and state college and university official use. It appears Haley and Clemson both believe recruiting is an “official use” and the Clemson coaches aren’t shy to take advantage.
Clemson coaches are frequently flying the friendly skies on the state-owned planes primarily for recruiting. The football coaches not only use the planes on a regular basis but they brag about it via social media. Tigers’ recruiting coordinate Jeff Scott once tweeted, “Heading to Jacksonville (on the Governor’s plane) trying to find some more ballplayers.” Incidentally, according to Rivals.com Clemson landed the 14th best recruiting class for 2013.
According to reports, Clemson accounted for 41% of the airplanes’ flights between September 2011 an September 2012, more than any other entity including government official use. Now that the word is out that Clemson has full access to the state-owned planes, South Carolina lawmakers are stepping in to question any misconduct. As it stands, any person using a state-owned plane must sign a manifest that it is being used for official state business. However, there is no real oversight. The question remains, does recruiting fall under this category?
