Clemson and South Carolina both opened their seasons against the same team this year, and Stetson’s reward was a strange little two-night tour of the Palmetto State, a pair of losses, and a combined $210,000 in guarantee money.
That’s the part Donnie Jones cares about most.
“It’s a different time in college athletics for small programs financially,” Jones said Tuesday. “We need the support, and this helps us in a lot of ways.”
Stetson, a mid-major program from DeLand, Florida, took on Clemson on Monday and South Carolina on Tuesday in a rare scheduling quirk for two longtime in-state rivals. The Hatters were expected to be overmatched in both spots, and the results followed the script: an 85-72 loss at Littlejohn Coliseum and an 81-55 defeat at Colonial Life Arena.
Still, there was one notable bright spot on the floor. After Clemson built a 25-point cushion, Stetson stormed back in the second half and outscored the Tigers 48-36, trimming the final margin to 13. Jones called games like these a “great teacher for us.”
The financial side was just as important as the basketball. According to game contracts obtained by The State via public records request, Clemson will pay Stetson $110,000 for Monday’s game, while South Carolina will pay $100,000 for Tuesday’s.
Jones also pointed out another practical benefit: “we were able to get two trips on one flight. It helps us save money.”
That kind of arrangement matters more than ever for smaller programs. Stetson is one of many schools navigating the NCAA’s revenue-sharing era, in which schools can directly pay athletes up to $21.3 million this year under House settlement terms.
Even if schools like Stetson are nowhere near that cap, the broader financial squeeze is real. Expenses are rising, and every line item gets examined.
Jones said Stetson is playing seven “buy games” this season, the most the program has had during his tenure. The schedule has already included an exhibition at No. 1 Florida in Gainesville on Oct. 27, and after Clemson and South Carolina, the Hatters still have four more P4 road games left at West Virginia, Louisville, Miami and Cincinnati.
The back-to-back setup against Clemson and South Carolina wasn’t planned as a package deal, Jones said. As the schedule came together, it simply “worked out.”
Clemson and Stetson agreed to their Nov. 2 game in April, and South Carolina and Stetson followed with a Nov. 3 agreement in July. The close geography between the two schools - about a 2.5-hour bus ride apart - made the trip easier to manage.
This year also marked the first time Clemson and South Carolina shared the same Game 1 opponent since 2003, when both opened against Gardner-Webb four days apart.
“We’re gonna have to play (this) many guarantee games for our program for money,” Jones said. “We’ve gotta play for money. And, it’s experience.”
The travel itself was a grind. Stetson flew from Florida to Upstate South Carolina on Sunday, played Clemson at 7 p.m.
Monday, then bussed straight to the Columbia area after the game. The team arrived around 12:30 a.m.
Tuesday and was back on the court at 7 p.m. that night against USC.
There were some individual positives in the losses. Collin Kuhl, the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, backed up the hype with 20 points against Clemson and 18 against South Carolina.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell wasn’t thrilled with what he saw from his team after halftime, saying the Tigers’ defense was “careless” as Stetson shot 57% in the final 20 minutes and made its last eight shots. “They exposed us at the things we didn’t do very well,” Brownell said.
South Carolina coach Lamont Paris also came away respecting the opponent. “It’s a talented team,” Paris said of Stetson, which had already given No. 1 Florida a scare last month and trailed only 42-40 at halftime of an 85-68 exhibition loss in Gainesville.
Jones, 60, has been around the college game a long time, with previous head coaching stops at Marshall and Central Florida. He led Stetson to its first ASUN Tournament championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, and he said he understands exactly why programs like his take on these kinds of games.
The Hatters’ road doesn’t get easier. On Wednesday, they bus from Columbia to Charlotte, fly to Pittsburgh, then bus again to Morgantown, West Virginia, for Friday’s game at Big 12 school WVU.
For Jones, the math is simple. These games bring money, and they bring lessons. And in a one-bid league like the ASUN, he knows the biggest prize still comes later.
“We’re a one-bid league anyway, so it’ll come down to our conference tournament,” Jones said. “... If we won ‘em all, still only one team comes out.”
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