Clemson arrived at ACC Tipoff with a roster that looks nothing like the one from a year ago, and Brad Brownell made it clear Wednesday that the Tigers are still in the middle of figuring themselves out.
That uncertainty, though, is tied to more than just roster turnover. Clemson is dealing with injuries that have slowed the rollout of what Brownell wants this team to become.
Expected starting guards Ace Buckner and Zac Foster are both working through injuries, while center Carter Welling won’t be ready until the new year. That means the Tigers may not get a full read on their ceiling until the calendar is already deep into the stretch that matters most.
Brownell said the team has time to work through things, but not much of it will be in live-game conditions with the full group intact. The hope is that the Tigers can still use the early part of the season to install the system, even if the true version of this team doesn’t show up right away.
That process is made a little easier by the way Clemson’s roster is built. Brownell described the group as balanced from a grade standpoint, with four seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. He said that kind of mix was intentional, and pointed to former Clemson forwards Ian Schieffelin, PJ Hall and Hunter Tyson as examples of high school recruits who developed into All-ACC players.
This version of the Tigers has a similar feel, with the added boost of transfers giving the roster more depth and more possibilities. Clemson’s lineup features four transfers and three freshmen alongside key returners, giving Brownell a group that could sneak up on the league.
Offensively, the Tigers are expected to look a lot different too. Brownell wants Clemson to score, and that alone marks a shift from last season’s team, which finished 236th in points per game nationally. Buckner and Foster are set to drive the backcourt once healthy, while Notre Dame transfer Cole Certa and TCU forward Liutauras Lelevicius should add shooting punch after both connected on better than 37% of their three-pointers.
The pieces are there for a better offensive profile, and Brownell knows it. If the Tigers can pair that with the kind of defense they played last season, Clemson has a real path to another strong year.
And if both ends come together the way Brownell hopes, the ceiling is high. A blend of offense and defense that clicks would put Clemson back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, with no obvious limit on how far this group could go.
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Brad Brownell Calls Out ACC Over A Clemson Rivalry Snub
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Brownell pointed to the league offices decision-making as the issue, saying he intends to bring it up again in future meetings. For Clemson, the frustration goes beyond one missing game, since the schedule sends the Tigers to Florida State twice while leaving a traditional rivalry game off the board entirely, a notable break from what has been standard since the 1950-51 season. [Read more 🡒]