Clemson is still waiting on clarity with Dillon Hunter, and Brad Brownell made it plain at ACC Tipoff that the uncertainty is starting to affect how the Tigers have to plan.
Hunter can be around the program, attend classes and practice every day, but he still cannot play while the NCAA eligibility fight works through the courts. Brownell said the guard is staying active, even as the final answer remains out of reach.
“He can practice every day, and he’s doing it. He’s going to school.
He’s doing all those things, but you know, as of right now, he’s still not eligible by the NCAA because of the judicial process,” Brownell said. “But you know, he’s working on that, he and his lawyers.
It’s crazy. This is crazy.”
The holdup comes after a Georgia appellate court granted the NCAA a stay of the ruling that had given Hunter a fifth season. That move put his status on pause while the appeal continues.
Brownell said he has tried not to get ahead of the process, but the Tigers may soon have to make some tough calls about how they handle Hunter in the coming weeks.
“We’re going to have some hard decisions to make. Just, I mean, a little bit here over the next couple of weeks,” he continued.
“So, do we have him play in exhibitions and scrimmages and those kinds of things, or do we, you know, not use reps that he’s already an experienced player? Maybe we don’t do that.
I don’t know. I got to look at it, you know, kind of moving forward.”
Hunter’s path to this point has already taken multiple turns. He was excluded from the NCAA’s new “5-in-5” eligibility framework along with the rest of the high school class of 2022. He originally planned to go overseas and play professionally in Germany, but that changed after a federal judge in Colorado ruled that athletes from his class who had used their four years of eligibility were entitled to a fifth season.
He entered the transfer portal the next day, and later that same week, a Georgia judge granted him and more than 30 other plaintiffs an extra season, which sent him back to Clemson.
That relief was temporary. The NCAA appealed the Georgia ruling, and Hunter became ineligible again.
For Brownell, the issue is less about the legal drama and more about the practical headache of giving practice reps to a player whose status is unresolved. Right now, the situation is manageable because projected starting guard Zac Foster is still working back from his ACL tear. Even so, Clemson knows it needs a clearer answer soon.
“Certainly, we’re anxious to know one way or the other because he’s taking reps of some guys that, you know, but right now with Zach not being all the time, it’s fine,” he finished. “But we got to have plans here, as a coach, we got to get organized.”
Clemson currently has 14 of its 15 roster spots filled, with the final spot still being held for Hunter.
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