Clemson’s men’s basketball still has one last scholarship available for next season’s roster, though there’s no guarantee at this point the Tigers are going to use it.
In other words, Brad Brownell largely knows what he has to work with from a personnel standpoint. He is entering his 13th season in charge of Clemson’s program with a roster that features its share of turnover as the Tigers try to get back to the NCAA Tournament after a 10th-place finish in the ACC this past season.
Clemson is welcoming five signees to campus this summer, three of which are guards that will be part of a revamped backcourt after the Tigers lost David Collins (eligibility exhausted), Nick Honor (transfer) and Al-Amir Dawes (transfer) off last season’s team. The group is headlined by Boston College transfer Brevin Galloway and combo guard Dillon Hunter, the brother of current Tiger Chase Hunter.
There are also seven holdovers from last year’s squad, most notably the starting frontcourt tandem of Hunter Tyson and leading scorer PJ Hall. With the roster getting a head start in preparation for next season with an international trip to France looming in August, Brownell recently gave The Clemson Insider an early assessment of the group’s similarities and differences compared to last year’s team.
“It’ll be interesting to see what our team is like next year,” Brownell said. “I think we’ll still play through PJ a good bit because he’s one of the better players in the league.”
As a sophomore, Hall averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds as one of the ACC’s most improved players. He did it while playing through a fractured left foot that has since been surgically repaired.
Regardless of who’s handling the ball in the backcourt, Brownell said the Tigers will continue to make sure the 6-foot-10, 240-pound is involved on the interior, something Brownell didn’t feel like they did well enough in the early going last season. Hall averaged just 3.5 points in 9.8 minutes per game as a true freshman.
“That was one of the challenges of last year’s team was I think he emerged as a high-profile player and really our most talented, best player earlier than everyone anticipated, even myself,” Brownell said. “I thought it’d take him until the middle of December or Christmas to really become (that kind of player), but it didn’t. He was ready to go in November, and I think it was challenging for some other guys on our team to understand that here’s a guy that didn’t play much as a freshman, but he’s really our most talented player and we’ve got to do some things within the way we play to make sure he’s our No. 1 option.”
With Galloway, true freshman Chauncey Gibson and the Hunter brothers part of a backcourt that includes Alex Hemenway and redshirt freshman Josh Beadle, Brownell said Clemson will “still look to shoot the 3, try to share the basketball and play the right way.” As for how he expects next year’s team to differentiate, Brownell said having and keeping a clean bill of health will go a long way in determining that.
“We couldn’t do some things defensively that maybe we like to do because of PJ’s injury,” Brownell said. “He just wasn’t as mobile. … If he gets healthy, we can play a little bit different defensively if we want to.”
Brownell threw Tyson into that equation, too. Clemson’s fifth-year senior decided to return for one more season with the Tigers after missing eight ACC games with a broken collarbone this past season. Tyson still finished as Clemson’s fourth-leading scorer (10.0 points per game) and third-leading rebounder (5.5).
“There was obviously a major dropoff when he wasn’t out there not only because of his points and rebounds but leadership and just his toughness. A captain,” Brownell said. “He’s a competitive guy that just brings a lot to our team, so having him back will be huge for us. I’m excited for him. He’s going to have a good year next year.”
