Last week didn’t play out how Clemson’s men’s basketball team would’ve hoped, but the atmosphere inside Littlejohn Coliseum for the Tigers’ three-game homestand wasn’t lost on Brad Brownell.
“Proud of our fans and our students,” Clemson’s 12th-year coach said. “Incredibly supportive. I hope people see that we’re trying and we’re fighting and our kids are giving it what we’ve got right now.”
Despite drawing three of the biggest home crowds of the season, Clemson went winless in its own building over the last five days. The shutout was capped Saturday night with a loss to Notre Dame, which dropped the Tigers (12-13, 4-10 ACC) below .500 for the first time this season.
Clemson has lost four straight games and eight of 10 heading into Tuesday’s road tilt against Florida State (13-11, 6-8). There won’t be any NCAA Tournament for the Tigers this season like there was in 2018 and 2021, and Clemson, in danger of its first losing season since 2012-13, may get shut out of the postseason all together unless it can get things turned around in the last six games of the regular season.
Losing senior forward Hunter Tyson (broken clavicle) hasn’t helped the Tigers’ situation. Clemson also played Saturday without another veteran starter, guard David Collins, who served a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul against Duke earlier in the week.
“We’re not playing great all the time, and we’re a little overmanned at times,” Brownell said. “We’ve got to do some things in recruiting to make sure that doesn’t happen. Last year’s team was deep. We had 11 guys, and we were a little bit bigger. Certainly more experience, and we could absorb a few things. This year’s team is not quite there.”
Yet fans have still come out to provide their support. Clemson’s games against North Carolina, Duke and Notre Dame marked three of the four highest-attended games at Littlejohn this season. Thursday’s game against Duke turned into a sellout of the 9,000-seat arena, but even without the bump of the Blue Devils’ traveling party, attendance was still strong this past week.
Clemson announced an attendance of 7,470 fans for the UNC game while 7,524 fans turned out to watch Saturday’s game in person. Only games against Duke and nearby Wofford (8,118) have drawn more fans at Littlejohn this season.
Amid a season that’s gone awry, Brownell said his program is thankful for the support.
“We’re getting our lip bloodied some,” Brownell said. “That makes you better. You need that. But for our fan base to stick with us, it’s appreciated by our players and appreciated by our coaches. I can’t thank them enough for sticking with us and hanging in there. I hope they see kids that are really competing and trying because I do think my guys are doing that.”
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