Less than a month before Clemson opens its men’s basketball season, Brad Brownell still doesn’t know if his former starting point guard will be eligible to play.
On the women’s side, Shawn Poppie is waiting on two major roster decisions of his own, with top scorers Mia Moore and Taylor Johnson-Matthews both suing the NCAA in local court as they try to keep playing this fall.
That’s the reality for Clemson right now as both programs get ready for a new season at a renovated Littlejohn Coliseum. The NCAA’s summer change to its eligibility model - giving every current and future Division I athlete up to five seasons - has created a wave of legal fights because former players cannot retroactively claim the benefit of the new rule. Dozens of lawsuits have followed, many involving Class of 2022 athletes who played four seasons without redshirting.
Brownell’s Dillon Hunter, along with Moore and Johnson-Matthews, are among the athletes challenging the NCAA.
Hunter’s path has already been a whirlwind. After finishing his senior year at Clemson in March, he signed with a German pro team in July.
Then a Georgia judge ruled in his favor on Aug. 5, along with roughly 30 other college basketball players, and gave him a retroactive fifth year. That opened the door for Hunter to commit to Clemson two weeks later.
But the situation flipped again on Sept. 9, when the same judge granted a legal stay of the earlier injunction after considering an NCAA appeal. Hunter is once again ineligible to play in 2026.
Brownell said Hunter is still taking classes at Clemson and practicing while he and his lawyers “are working on” next steps.
“This is crazy, what we’re dealing with,” Brownell said of college basketball.
Hunter, the younger brother of former Clemson guard Chase Hunter, played in 134 games for the Tigers from 2022-25. He started at point guard last season and averaged 7.5 points and 3.4 assists for a team that won 24 games.
Brownell said Hunter came back to Clemson for less NIL/revenue-sharing money than he made a year ago, and with the understanding that he would be behind expected starting guards Zac Foster, a sophomore, and Ace Buckner, a junior.
“He’s been great,” Brownell said of Hunter. “It’s not easy for him, either.
… He got out of a contract overseas, and he still has no certainty. And that’s hard.”
For Brownell, the challenge is now less about recruiting than timing. He said he may have to make “hard decisions” soon about whether to use Hunter in scrimmages and exhibitions if the case keeps dragging on.
“Certainly, we’re anxious to know one way or the other,” Brownell said.
Poppie’s roster has its own unresolved pieces, and they’re just as significant. Moore averaged a team-best 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals last season and earned honorable mention All-American honors as Clemson won 21 games and reached the NCAA Tournament. Johnson-Matthews chipped in 9.5 points per game off the bench.
Both players have been around the team all summer, Poppie said Monday, and have been formally practicing since mid-September. Clemson built its roster with the possibility that one or both could return, and the Tigers still have two scholarship openings out of a possible 15.
“You’ve got an honorable mention All-American that you could all of a sudden just add to a group with a top 10 (high school) recruiting class and a top 15 portal class? Yeah, that’s pretty good,” Poppie said of Moore.
The legal route for both players has already moved through an initial appeal and waiver denial this summer before the lawsuits were filed in Pickens County, where Clemson University is located. Moore’s first hearing is set for Oct. 14, and Johnson-Matthews’ is set for Oct. 16.
After those hearings, local judges are expected to issue initial rulings on whether either player gets an injunction against the NCAA in about a week. Those decisions will likely determine whether Moore and Johnson-Matthews are on the floor in 2026.
“We don’t have necessarily, ‘We’ve gotta name our roster on this date,’” Poppie said. “Their final decisions, though, are coming in the next couple weeks.”
Poppie said Clemson will make sure both players are “taken care of” no matter how the cases turn out, calling them “good kids” and “unbelievable workers.” He said they could even end up with the program as grad assistants.
“We’re not asking for anything (extra),” Poppie said. “We just believe it’s fair.”
In Other News...
Brad Brownell's Preseason Plan For Clemson Just Got More Intriguing
Brad Brownell is adding a little more runway to Clemsons preseason than usual. The Tigers will play three exhibition games ahead of the 2026-27 season, giving the staff a longer look at a roster that will have to settle in quickly once the real games begin. The slate starts with a closed workout against the College of Charleston, then shifts into a more public tune-up with Georgia on Oct. 23 before another exhibition against Presbyterian on Oct. 28.
Brownell also pointed to another wrinkle down the road, mentioning a future game in Athens, Ga., during the 2027-28 season. What still is not clear is whether that meeting will be part of the regular schedule or another exhibition, but it adds to the sense that Clemsons nonconference planning is becoming a little more layered. For a program looking to sharpen itself before the stakes rise, the extra games should provide more than just extra reps. [Read more 🡒]
Clemsons Playoff Hopes Now Rest On A Brutal Stretch Ahead
Clemson has reached the point where every Saturday from here on out feels heavier than the last. At 3-2 overall and 2-1 in ACC play, the Tigers still have plenty of football left on the schedule, including five more conference games, a date with Charleston Southern and the annual home matchup with South Carolina, but the margin for error is already razor thin.
ESPNs Football Power Index has Clemson at just 1.4% to reach the College Football Playoff, and several other ACC teams are rated higher right now. For the Tigers to keep a realistic path alive, they likely need to run the table in league play from here, finish 7-1 in the ACC and then win the ACC Championship Game, a brutal climb that leaves little room for a stumble. [Read more 🡒]
Brad Brownell Calls Out ACC Over A Clemson Rivalry Snub
During ACC Tipoff, Brad Brownell made clear he was not thrilled with how the leagues new schedule worked out for Clemson. The Tigers are adjusting to an 18-game ACC slate, and the repeat-opponent setup has created a strange quirk for a program with deep conference history: a matchup Clemson has long counted on is off the regular-season docket this year.
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 🡒]