Kris Benson Experience: 1993-96 Sport: Baseball

Benson was named the National Player of the Year in College Baseball in 1996. He was a Unanimous first-team All-American that year when he posted a 14-2 record and a record 204/27 strikeout/walk ratio. He was not only named the ACC Player of the Year, he was named the ACC Athlete of the Year for all sports for the 1995-96 academic year. He is still the only Clemson athlete in any sport to win that award.

After his junior year at Clemson, Benson was the number-one selection of the Major League Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the only Clemson athlete in any sport to be chosen number-one in any draft. He was also a pitcher on the United States Olympic team that year. In 2003 he was named to the ACC's 50-Year Anniversary baseball team. He is currently a starting pitcher with the New York Mets.

Benson was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.