Each week, the Record (using a script in R) randomly selects a student at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature, excluding current Record board members. This week, Logan McClennen ’24 discussed his early March Madness insights, the exciting end to his intramural (IM) basketball career, and being the subject of a song by his ex-girlfriend. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ellie Davis (ED): We are both on the crew team, and we had “mad cows” yesterday. Tell me about that tradition and how it went.

Logan McClennen (LM): Mad cows is a tradition that the men’s and women’s crew teams do every year. Our race distance is 2,000 meters in the spring season. During the winter, when we train on the rowing machines, we have to test that distance for fitness. 

The men’s and women’s teams will come together on a day and do a 2k together in heats of speed and all cheer each other on and yell at each other and get excited about it. I personally think it’s really fun. I love the environment. I hit my personal record, and this was the last time I’ll ever do mad cows, so obviously I’m very excited about that. 

ED: What is your go-to pre-2k hype song? 

LM: Oh, you’re gonna think I’m a psychopath. I don’t listen to music. I listen to white noise. [Laughs.] I sit down on a yoga mat and close my eyes for 10 minutes. I actually have a customized mix — do you want to hear it? [Plays white noise.] I think it just helps me calm down, especially if I’m coming from a class or something else. Super psychopathic, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

ED: Speaking of locking in, we are leaving for Clemson for our spring break training trip in three days. How are you feeling about your last Clemson experience?

LM: I’m very excited. I love the team camaraderie. Last Clemson was ideal — all I remember is watching a lot of March Madness. And the roommate who I was put with — who happened to be my frosh — was also a big basketball fan. We just sat in our room and watched basketball during the time that we weren’t rowing, which was excellent.

ED: Who do you have winning in your bracket? 

LM: I don’t know. Selection Sunday is next weekend, so I haven’t made it, but I really like the [University of Connecticut’s] men’s team and the [University of South Carolina’s] women’s team. 

ED: That’s a crazy take. 

LM: Come back to this interview in a month.

ED: So the men’s team has a tradition of cutting mullets at Clemson. Will you be participating in that tradition? 

LM: I tried the mullet last year, and, for whatever reason, it did not work out very well. I don’t think my hair was long enough, so I just ended up having a very genuine mohawk. I think I got to shake up [my hairstyle] a little bit, and I have a couple of different options, one of which is a perm. I might also get frosted tips or just bleach my hair, because I can dye it back after. Or I’ll just go full mohawk again and pray for the best. We’ll see.

ED: Speaking of basketball, I know you ran an IM team this year and last year. 

LM: I played basketball in high school, and I really enjoyed playing. Given that I’ve given up on [playing varsity] ball sports in college, it was kind of nice to get back into something familiar. IM basketball is always a fun time. Although some people take it seriously, most people are there just to have a really fun time. I think the highlight of the season for me was that the last shot I ever had was a buzzer-beater 3-pointer. We did lose the game, but it was still a buzzer-beater 3-pointer. 

ED: I was on our IM basketball team last year but not this year. Do you think your team’s lack of success was because of my absence?

LM: I can’t think of any other possible reason.

ED:  Last year’s team was called “Sage 4 & More.” What was your favorite part about being a Junior Advisor (JA)? 

LM: I think I enjoyed being a sort of older sibling for 30 people. I mean, I’m an older brother at home, and I love my younger brothers. It was fun to be able to help these people explore Williams, learn more about themselves, and also just hang out with them.

ED: So, Logan, do you enjoy music?

LM: I do enjoy music a lot.

ED: I hear you’ve had an ex-girlfriend write a song about you.

LM: Wow. Yeah. One of my exes is a musician and is very into songwriting. She recently released a single about me called “We Were Pretty.” It’s on Spotify. And it was a bit of a surreal experience to have a song written about me. Like, if it blows up, I’m gonna call her for royalties, obviously. She did tell me that when we broke up she was probably gonna write a song about me, so I knew it was coming. I just didn’t know when it was coming. It was interesting and weird to go through the lyrics and try to figure out what she was talking about. 

ED: One of her lyrics is “Call me ‘Great Gatsby’  / You’ll always be the green light across my water babe.” What do you make of this lyric? 

LM: For the academics out there who have read The Great Gatsby, I would say this is a reference to Gatbsy looking at the green light across the water, where she is Gatsby and I am the green light that she is reaching out for. 

ED: Do you think she represented you fairly?

LM: I think relatively well.

ED: Speaking of romance, you’re currently dating a sophomore -— the class that you were a JA for -— but not one of your frosh. How did that come about?

LM: Well, funnily enough, and contrary to popular belief, we actually did not know each other last year. Even though we were on adjacent teams of men’s and women’s crew, we didn’t have much contact. This year, when we found ourselves playing a game of Jenga, we just started chatting, and we became really good friends. Then, closer to winter break, things started to move in a [Pauses.] — more romantic direction.

ED: I remember that crew game night. 

LM: I’m very glad that you do.

ED: You’re a senior. How are you feeling about being 81 days away from graduation?

LM: I’m feeling a little bit existential, but also I’m excited to go out into the real world and do some exciting things.