Former Clemson great Adkins tabbed for College Baseball Hall of Fame

Rusty Adkins' 41-game hitting streak
in 1965-66 is is still the longest
 in ACC history. (Clemson photo) 

Rusty Adkins, a star player for Clemson's baseball team in the mid-1960s, was one of 14 people announced Thursday as 2021 selections for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Adkins, an outfielder, was  a three-time first-team all-ACC pick for coach Bill Wilhelm's Tigers from 1965-67 and joins his coach in the Hall of Fame, located in Lubbock, Texas.

Adkins batted .379 for his career and had a 41-game hitting streak spanning portions of the 1965 and 1966 seasons.  He hit .438 during the streak and needed a hit in his final plate appearance to keep the streak going just three times.

He was a first-team all-American as a senior, a second-teamer as a sophomore and a third-teamer a junior. Freshmen were not eligible to play in those days. 

The Fort Mill High product hit .444 as a sophomore and did not strike out in 126 at-bats. He hit .364 as a junior and .336 his final season.  The Tigers earned a big to the NCAA playoffs in Adkins' year. They finished in second the district tournament in Gastonia, N.C.

Adkins already is a member of the Clemson University and South Carolina athletic halls of fame. A virtual induction ceremony into the College Baseball Hall of Fame is scheduled for June 26.

Other inductees include former Auburn pitcher Gregg Olson, ex-Tennessee pitcher-first baseman Todd Helton, former Florida State catcher Terry Kennedy, ex-Florida State and Michigan State coach Danny Litwhiler and former Stanford coach Mark Marquess. Rounding out the selections are Lewis university pitcher Tom Brennan, La Verne catcher Tim Burzette, Southern Cal third baseman Rich Dauer, former American Baseball Coaches Association executive director Dave Keilitz, former Southern University coach Bob Lee, former Yale coach Frank Quinn and former New Haven coach Porky Viera and former  umpire Dave Yeast.

The College Baseball Foundation oversees the Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame release

Clemson release

(A personal aside: Growing up in the Upstate of South Carolina, I scoured The Greenville News sports page each day. The exploits of Adkins during his streak and Clemson during its run in the NCAA district tournament in Adkins' senior season during my early teen years were among the first memories I have of college baseball. I suspect that's where my love for the game was kindled.)