MORROW, Ga. – On August 18, 1997, Clayton State Athletics completed a significant transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The 2017-18 season marked the 20^th anniversary of that accomplishment. Over a seven week span, the Sports Information Office is releasing the top 20 moments in the NCAA era, one on each Monday, Wednesday and Friday with select exceptions.
  The countdown continues with the No. 8 moment, Men's Golf's Wilcox Produces 2008 PBC Championship and NCAA Appearance.
 
Will Wilcox led a transcendent season for the Lakers as he claimed the first individual Peach Belt Conference Championship in program history and led the team to a runner-up team finish. Beyond that he finished fifth in the Southeast Regional in leading Clayton State to only its second appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championships. There he would finish eighth before being named a PING All-American for a second straight season. The latter was the first time by a Laker golfer.
 
Below are the original releases for Wilcox's PBC Title (April 22, 2008), the Lakers trip to the NCAA National Championships (May 8, 2008), the club's 10^th place finish against the best in the country (May 17, 2018) and Wilcox's All-American honor (May 18, 2008).
  AIKEN, S.C. – The years of hovering at or near the bottom of the Peach Belt Conference in men's golf are a memory now for the Clayton State Lakers.
 
On Tuesday, they came of age.
 
Spearheaded by junior All-American Will Wilcox winning the individual title, Clayton State finished runner-up in the 2008 Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Houndslake Country Club. The 20th-ranked Lakers shot a final-round 295 and finished with a three-round score of 879, 10 strokes off the pace of tournament champion and fifth-ranked USC Aiken.
 
Clayton State held off a tremendous rally by Georgia College, nipping the 10th-ranked Bobcats by two strokes, while 12th-ranked Columbus State finished fourth in the eight-team field with a 901 (32-293-294). The second-place finish was the best ever in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for Clayton State, and the Lakers set a new 54-hole team record by nine strokes, relative to par.
 
"Coming into this season, I expected us to be better, but this is tremendous," said second-year Clayton State head coach Barry Harwell. "Our goal this season was to crack the Division II Top 25 and advance to NCAA Regionals, which we have. Finishing second at the conference championships exceeded those goals."
 
Wilcox followed up his first and second round scores of 70 and 68 with another 70 on Tuesday to finish 8-under par overall with a 208, eight strokes ahead of runner-up Roberto Diaz from USC Aiken. The runner-up in last season's PBC Tournament, Wilcox is the first ever Clayton State player to win an individual Peach Belt Conference championship.
 
He capped off his dominating performance with a second straight bogey-free round. Wilcox did not record a bogey over his final 43 holes dating back to the par four 11th hole in the first round. He polished off the championship with two birdies in the final round, and was the only player to finish under-par for the tournament.
 
"I didn't make many bad mistakes throughout the tournament, and to have only one bogey over three rounds is amazing," said Wilcox, who transferred to Clayton State last season from Division I Alabama-Birmingham.
 
"I've had a big opportunity here at Clayton State, so I value it tremendously. The fact that we have turned things around so quickly as a team means a lot to us, especially to coach."
 
Wilcox wasn't alone, however, for the Lakers. Sophomore Wade Binfield shot a 74 in the final round and finished third overall with a 1-over 217, one stroke ahead of Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Chris Wolfe from Armstrong Atlantic. Junior Neil McBride finished tied for 22nd with a 229 (73-79-77), followed by junior Jonathan Visconti in 24th with a 231 (76-81-74).
 
Rounding out the Laker scoring was freshman Kevin Duncan finishing tied for 27th with a 233 (75-76-82).
 
The strong finish should be more than enough to qualify Clayton State for the NCAA Division II Southeast Region on May 5-7 in Mooresville, N.C. It would be the Lakers' first regional berth since 2003.
  MOORESVILLE, N.C. – The Clayton State Laker men's golf team can keep their bags packed for one more week. They are going to Houston.
 
Clayton State came on strong in the final round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Wednesday and qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships for the first time since the 1999 season. The 20th-ranked Lakers shot a 301 for the final round and finished with a 901 overall to claim the fifth and final spot in the Regional for next week's National Championships in Houston, Texas.
 
The Lakers edged Peach Belt Conference rival and 24^th-ranked Lander by one stroke and Barton by three strokes in the combined Southeast/Atlantic Regionals at The Point Lake and Golf Club. Georgia College and Belmont Abbey each earned the automatic qualifier by winning their respected Regionals, while Clayton State, Newberry and USC Aiken earned the at-large berths – all three from the Southeast Regional.
 
"I didn't think a 301 would make it, but it did," said Clayton State head coach Barry Harwell. "But this (advancing to the NCAA Championship) is a good step for the program and a nice reward. I'm so proud of these guys, they've worked hard all season and this is special."
 
"This is not something I had in the plans at the beginning of the season, but the opportunity is now here, and we need to take advantage of it."
 
Like Tuesday's second round, the Lakers were again sluggish throughout the final round, trailing Lander and Barton the entire. However, junior Will Wilcox put Clayton State in striking distance with three birdies on the last five holes. He record birdies on 14, 16 and 18 to finish the round at one-under par.
 
From there, the Lakers had to wait as both Lander and Barton stumbled on the back nine, enabling the Clayton State to advance.
 
Wilcox finished fifth overall for the Regional with a two-over 218 (73-74-71). In addition, junior Jonathan Visconti finished tied for 24th overall with a 229 (75-79-75), while freshman Kevin Duncan (77-77-77) and sophomore Wade Binfield (73-80-78) each finished tied for 27^th with a 231. Neil McBride rounded out the Clayton State scoring finishing 35th with a 234 (75-74-85).
 
"It was definitely a game of attrition," Harwell said. "Will stood up and showed what he was made of down the stretch, but this was a team effort. For Kevin to play as well he did for a freshman at this level was tremendous."
 
The NCAA Division II National Championships will be on May 14-17 at the Memorial Park Golf Club in Houston.
  HOUSTON, Texas – The Clayton State Laker men's golf team concluded play at the 2008 NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday, finishing 10^th overall in the 20-team field.
 
The 20th-ranked Lakers shot a final-round score of 9-over par 289 to finish with a four-round score of 1,150 (Plus-30) for their Top 10 finish. In both of its appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship, Clayton State has garnered Top 10 finishes. Former head coach Bob Hill's Laker squad finished seventh in the 1999 NCAA Division II National Championships, and now second-year head coach Barry Harwell can add another Top 10 finish at nationals to the Laker program this season.
 
Clayton State edged Grand Canyon by one stroke, Belmont Abbey and Colorado-Colorado Springs both by two strokes and Grand Valley State by six strokes. The Lakers finished six strokes behind both Western Washington and Indianapolis, and seven strokes behind USC Aiken.
 
West Florida won the 2008 NCAA Division II National Championship in a playoff over both North Alabama and St. Edward's.
 
The Top 10 finish at the NCAA National Championships culminated a banner season for Clayton State and Harwell.
 
"It cannot be anything but a positive for our program," said Harwell. "Just being here was awesome, and the guys learned a lot from this. They now have something to aim for starting this fall."
 
"With all we have accomplished this season, we have nothing to complain about. This is a good start for the future, but it has been a fun year."
 
Individually, junior Will Wilcox capped off a brilliant season by finishing tied for eighth overall with a 1-over 281 (66-72-74-69). He finished only three strokes off the lead of overall individual champion Jeff Goff from Peach Belt Conference rival USC Aiken. Wilcox's eighth-place finish is the second highest finish ever at the NCAA National Championship for a Clayton State golfer.
 
In addition to Wilcox, freshman Kevin Duncan finished tied for 60th overall with a 292 (70-72-79-71), while junior Neil McBride finished tied for 64th with a 293 (68-74-73-78). Junior Jonathan Visconti finished tied for 87th with a 298 (69-75-74-80) and sophomore Wade Binfield finished tied for 89th with a 300 (78-77-74-71).
  MORROW, Ga. – Fresh off finishing eighth in the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship on Saturday, Clayton State's Will Wilcox made more history in the history of Laker golf on Sunday.
 
PING Division II First-Team All-American selections were announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) following the final round of the NCAA Championships in Houston, Texas. Wilcox, the 2008 Peach Belt Conference champion, was one of the nine players that comprised the First-Team.
 
Joining Wilcox on the First-Team All-American include Jude Eustaquio of Florida Southern, Jeff Goff of USC-Aiken, CSU-Stanislaus's Erick Justesen, Tobias Rosendahl and Kyle Scott of West Florida, Sonoma State's Jarin Todd, Valdosta States Brent Witcher and Chris Wolfe of Armstrong Atlantic.
 
The junior from Pell City, Ala., becomes the first Laker player in Clayton State men's golf history to garner Division II First-Team All-American honors. Add last season's Honorable Mention selection, and Wilcox is also the first player in the history of Clayton State men's golf to earn back-to-back Division II All-American honors.
 
The seventh-ranked player in Division II, according to Golfstat, Wilcox had arguably the best individual season ever for a men's golfer at Clayton State. His scoring average of 71.1 is the best ever in a season for a player at Clayton State, and he has posted four tournament championships and 11 Top-10 finishes combined in the fall and spring.
 
In addition to becoming the first ever player from Clayton State to win the Peach Belt Conference individual championship, Wilcox also posted tournament championships at the Orchard Fall Classic, the Aflac/Cougar Invitational and the Southbridge Pirate Invitational. He also became the first Laker to garner All-Peach Belt Conference honors for the first time since 2000.
 
Schedule of NCAA 20^th Anniversary Countdown Releases
No. 1 (July 11)
No. 2 (July 9)
No. 3 (July 5)
No. 4 (July 2)
No. 5 (June 29)
No. 6 (June 27)
No. 7 (June 25)
No. 8 Men's Golf's Wilcox Produces 2008 PBC Championship and NCAA Appearance (June 22)
No. 9 Marti Bartis' Two First-Team Selections Anchor Academic All-America Selections (June 20)
No. 10 Men's Golf Becomes First Clayton State Program to Reach NCAA Championships in 1999 (June 18)
No. 11 Eight Individual PBC Championships in Calendar Year by Cross Country and Track (June 15)
No. 12 Men's Soccer Wins Five PBC Championships in Three Seasons From 2005-07 (June 13)
No. 13 Women's Tennis Claims Rare PBC Championship in 2001 (June 11)
No. 14 Women's Soccer Sweeps PBC Titles and Heads to NCAA's in 2005 (June 8)
No. 15 Women's Basketball Makes First Elite Eight in 2006-07 (June 6)
No. 16 Men's Cross Country Delivers Record Setting 2005 Season (June 4)
No. 17 Women's Basketball Wins No. 1 vs. No. 2 Game vs. Lander on February 10, 2011 (June 1)
No. 18 Men's Basketball Wins First Ever PBC Championship in 2001-02 Regular Season Finale (May 30)
No. 19 Women's Cross Country Wins PBC, Heads to 2012 NCAA National Championships (May 28)
No. 20 Women's Tennis Makes NCAA Tournament in 1999 (May 25)