Frank ‘Sonny’ Clements, considered the patriarch of Columbus State athletics, dies
Frank “Sonny” Clements, considered the patriarch of Columbus State University athletics, has died.
He was 88.
Clements died peacefully from natural causes Tuesday night at his home, CSU sports information director Josh Fuller told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Clements was the institution’s first head men’s basketball coach and served 24 years as the athletics director, 1959-83.
“All associated with Columbus State University athletics are saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Clements,” CSU athletics director Todd Reeser said in the university’s news release. “Through his leadership, he literally established the foundation as well as the competitive success that Cougar athletics strives to build upon. He had a significant and positive impact on the lives of so many Cougar student-athletes, and our condolences go out to the Clements family.”
CSU was Columbus College when Clements arrived on campus in 1959. He oversaw the department’s jump from a junior college to a four-year institution in 1967, then an NCAA Division II member in 1972.
Clements coached for 21 seasons and won 286 games. He led the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament following a 19-8 record during the 1977-78 season. He was named the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, the third Coach of the Year award of his career.
“Coach Clements was the most kind and caring person,” CSU sports broadcaster Scott Miller said in the news release . “He was a true gentleman, and I am so blessed that he was my friend for 44 years.
“He was also a great, fiery and competitive coach, but yet he genuinely cared about the well-being of his players. He is truly a pillar of Columbus State athletics, and I will be forever grateful to him, as well as Charles Ragsdale, for allowing me the life-changing opportunity to become their play-by-play broadcaster in 1977. My heart is broken, but I’m happy that Coach Clements has been reunited with his wife, and he’s once again able to roam the sidelines. My prayers go out to his family.”
Clements was inducted into the Columbus State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 as part of the inaugural class. He also helped hire two other Cougar legends and Hall of Fame members, Charles Ragsdale and Herbert Greene, and worked for decades with the matriarch of CSU athletics, Mary Blackmon.
Before coming to Columbus, Clements was a two-sport standout at Georgia Teachers College (now Georgia Southern University) in baseball and basketball. A member of the 1,000-point club, Clements was inducted into the GSU Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
He played minor league baseball before an injury cut short his playing career. In two seasons (1952-53) as a starting pitcher for Eastman of the Georgia State League, he went 21-6 with a 3.65 ERA.
Visitation will be June 14 from 2-4 p.m. at McMullen Funeral Home in Columbus. A private funeral service will be June 15.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 9:52 AM.
