Furman Paladins retire Clint Dempsey’s number

Clint Dempsey, one of the best American soccer players ever and one of the most successful American players in Europe, had his Furman Paladins No. 2 retired Sunday, Aug. 31, at Stone Soccer Stadium before a match against No. 8 Duke University. The No. 20 Paladins played the No. 8 Blue Devils to a 1-1 draw in front of a packed crowd.

Dempsey, from the small East Texas town of Nacogdoches, was a midfielder at Furman from 2001-2003. He was an all-Freshman in 2001 and an All-American in 2002. He was inducted into the Furman Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, the United States Soccer Hall of Fame in 2022 and the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025. Read more about Dempsey’s number being retired on the Furman Paladins website and see more photos on the team’s Instagram feed @furmanmsoccer.