Banks McFadden was a standout at Clemson in football, basketball and track, earning three letters in each sport from 1936-1940. He earned All-America honors in both basketball (1938-39)and football (1939) and was named the nation’s most versatile athlete in 1939. McFadden held the Clemson single season punting record (43.5 in 1939) for 40 years, and his 22 punts of at least 50 yards in 1939 still stand as a Clemson single season record.

At the conclusion of his career he was a first-round draft choice of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL, the fourth selection of the draft. He played one year in the NFL with the Dodgers and led the NFL in yards per rush before returning to Clemson. In 1959, McFadden became the first Clemson football player (and still one of only three) inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. After coaching Clemson’s defensive backs under second-year head Coach Frank Howard in 1941, McFadden joined the Army Air Corps and spent four years in North Africa and Italy.

He was discharged as a colonel. McFadden came back to Clemson after his service andwas again the secondary coach, this time for four seasons (1946-1949), and then took over as head freshman football coach for five years before returning to coach defensive backs in 1955, a spot he held until Howard retired following the ‘69 season. McFadden is the only Clemson athlete to have both his football jersey and basketball jersey numbers retired. In 1995, the Banks McFadden Building at Jervey Athletic Center was dedicated in his honor.