With Clemson’s men’s and women’s basketball seasons in the books, athletic director Graham Neff has spoken on the state of those programs.
In a letter penned Thursday to the programs’ season ticket holders — a copy of which has been obtained by The Clemson Insider — Neff wrote that the men’s basketball season “did not meet our expectations nor those of head coach Brad Brownell and student-athletes.
“There were a number of reasons for the results, but we realize this is a bottom-line game. In the days following the ACC Tournament, Coach Brownell and I met several times to discuss the state of the program, potential offseason changes and plans for next year that would return us to the NCAA Tournament.”
Clemson finished the season 17-16 with a second-round exit in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers, who had made two of the last three NCAA Tournaments, finished 10th in the ACC regular-season standings in Brownell’s 12th season at the helm and missed the postseason all together for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Meanwhile, Clemson’s women’s team finished 13th in the 15-team league with a 3-15 conference record. The Tigers finished with the second-fewest wins of any team in the ACC with a 10-21 record overall.
The rest of Neff’s letter is below:
“I have an ambitious vision for Clemson basketball – both the men’s and women’s programs – and what we can accomplish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally. This is Clemson, and basketball is very important for our university and athletics department. Aggressive investment must be present to achieve such intentions. And importantly, while we are willing to push in many areas, as Clemson’s director of athletics, I am adamant that academic success and integrity in all of our programs are absolute non-negotiables.
I am working with our senior athletics staff to focus further investment in our basketball programs, which I believe will pay dividends next season and beyond. While we’ve continued to make strides relative to our peers in support areas, facilities and resources, we have room to do more. We must ensure we provide the necessary support staff, an exceptional student-athlete experience, strategy for evolving Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) resources and the recruiting investment to not only be competitive—but to be excellent.
Our success also would not be possible without the support of Clemson fans to pack Littlejohn on a regular basis to create an unparalleled gameday atmosphere and get behind our student-athletes, who consistently display their effort, grit and dedication to winning. Our staffs and student-athletes are already hard at work at doing what it takes to work toward a successful 2022-23 season.
Clemson is stronger when basketball is thriving. We are committed to winning basketball, and we will provide the resources needed to excel.”
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