Swinney Makes ESPY Voting Pitch for Clemson Soccer Legend

Ahead of this year’s ESPY Awards, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney made a pitch for a Tiger soccer legend.

Swinney encouraged fans to vote for former Clemson men’s soccer star Ousmane Sylla, who has been nominated for the 2024 ESPY Award for the Best Male College Athlete.

The 2023 MAC Hermann Award winner as the national soccer player of the year and a two-time national champion, Sylla is one of four nominees for the award, along with former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, former Purdue center Zach Edey and former Notre Dame lacrosse star Pat Kavanagh.

“Hey what’s up Clemson Fam. Hey listen, one of our very best, Ousmane Sylla, our great national champion soccer player, he’s up for an ESPY for the Best Male College Athlete,” Swinney said in a social media post from Clemson Men’s Soccer. “So let’s all get behind him, let’s vote between now and July 11… Let’s help Ousmane. Go Tigers! We’ll see y’all in the Valley soon.”

As Swinney alluded to, voting is open now and runs until 5 p.m. E.T. on July 11. To vote for Sylla, you can visit the ESPYS voting link here . The winners will be announced during the live ESPY Awards ceremony on July 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

During his time at Clemson, Sylla was a vital member of the 2023 National Championship, scoring the game-winning goal and the equalizing goal in the ACC Tournament Championship match. Additionally, he was a part of Clemson’s 2021 National Championship team. Sylla finished second in the ACC in goals (13), assists (10), and points (36) for the 2023 season while also ranking third in shots on goal (24) and game-winning goals (5). His performance resulted in being drafted 55th overall in the MLS SuperDraft to Houston Dynamo F.C.

Sylla has been named to the College Soccer News Men’s National Team of the Week five times, the ACC Offensive Player of the Week, and has earned multiple selections to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week. His accolades extend back to his freshman year, when he was recognized as part of the ACC All-Freshman Team and the TopDrawerSoccer.com Postseason Top 100 Freshman list.

Sylla is looking to become the second Clemson Athlete to win the ESPY for Best Male College Athlete (Deshaun Watson, 2017).

–Information from Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this article