View the best images from the Tigers’ 91-64 win over Charleston Southern at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Clemson Tigers’ men’s basketball team won its 2024-25 season opener, 91-64, over Charleston Southern Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (1-0), fresh off a deep and unexpected NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight, got 17 points apiece from sixth-year Chase Hunter and Illinois State transfer Myles Foster in the victory.
Cincinnati Bearcats transfer forward Viktor Lahkin added 12 points to give the Tigers three players in double figures. Boston College transfer Jaeden Zackery started and played 26 minutes, scoring six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Senior forward Ian Schieffelin played a team-high 30 minutes and had eight points to go with nine rebounds and three assists.
Coach Brad Brownell began his 15th season at the helm in Clemson. With the recent retirement of longtime Virginia coach Tony Bennett, Brownell is now the second longest tenured coach in the ACC behind Leonard Hamilton of Florida State.
Clemson returns to Littlejohn Coliseum Friday night when the Tigers host the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra/ESPN+.
Here are some of the best photos from the Tigers’ opening night victory over the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.
Chase Hunter and transfer Myles Foster lead the way for Clemson in the Tigers’ 2024-25 season opener.
Sixth-year senior Chase Hunter and Illinois State transfer Myles Foster both scored 17 points, and the Clemson Tigers men’s basketball team defeated Charleston Southern, 91-64, to win its 2024-25 season opener Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (1-0) led 48-24 at halftime and finished the night shooting 49.2 percent from the field. Hunter, who returned to Clemson after forgoing the NBA draft, played 23 minutes and shot 6-of-9 from the field (3-for-3 from 3-point range) in the Tigers’ opening night dub.
Foster, a fifth-year senior who averaged 12.5 points per game in each of the past two seasons, scored 17 points over 17 minutes in his Clemson debut.
Some other new faces contributed to the Tigers’ success, as well.
Cincinnati Bearcats transfer Viktor Lahkin started and played 16 minutes, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Former Boston College guard Jaeden Zackery also started and played 26 minutes. He scored six points (3-5) in his first game in a Clemson uniform.
Senior forward and fan favorite Ian Schieffelin played a team-high 30 minutes and had eight points to go with nine rebounds.
For coach Brad Brownell, it marked the start of his 15th season at the helm in Clemson. He is the second longest-tenured coach in the ACC behind Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton (2002-present). Brownell led the Tigers to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Clemson returns to the court Friday night when the Tigers welcome St. Francis (PA) to Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra or ESPN+.
The Clemson Tigers placed outside the Top 25, same as with the preseason AP Top 25 poll last week. The Tigers garnered eight votes for Top 25 consideration in the coaches poll.
Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks took the No. 1 spot in the preseason poll, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 2. The two-time defending champion UConn Huskies were ranked No. 3, with the Houston Cougars No. 4 and Duke Blue Devils No. 5.
Duke and the No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels were the only ACC schools that were ranked in the Top 25. Behind Duke and UNC, Clemson’s eight votes for consideration were the most of any ACC school outside the Top 25.
The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 6 seed and reeled off three straight wins against the No. 11 seed New Mexico Lobos, the No. 3 seed Baylor Bears and the No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980. Clemson fell, 89-82, to Alabama with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Coach Brad Brownell’s 2024-25 team returns sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter and senior forward Ian Schieffelin, the ACC’s Most Improved Player from a season ago.
The Tigers open the season on Monday, Nov. 4 at Littlejohn Coliseum against Charleston Southern. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).
Rank
School
Last Year’s Record
Points
1
Kansas
23-11
743 (15)
2
Alabama
25-12
718 (6)
3
Connecticut
37-3
717 (6)
4
Houston
32-5
698 (4)
5
Duke
27-9
625
6
Iowa State
29-8
591
7
Gonzaga
27-8
575
8
Baylor
24-11
545
9
Arizona
27-9
510
10
North Carolina
29-8
498
11
Auburn
27-8
465
12
Tennessee
27-9
437
13
Purdue
34-5
390
14
Creighton
25-10
342
15
Texas A&M
21-15
332
16
Arkansas
16-17
272
17
Marquette
27-10
268
18
Indiana
19-14
208
19
Texas
21-13
166
20
Cincinnati
22-15
163
21
Florida
24-12
130
22
UCLA
16-17
123
23
Kentucky
23-10
95
24
Illinois
29-9
87
25
Mississippi
20-12
66
Dropped Out:
No. 13 North Carolina State (26-15); No. 15 Clemson (24-12); No. 18 San Diego State (26-11); No. 20 Utah State (28-7); No. 22 Saint Mary’s (26-8); No. 23 South Carolina (26-8); No. 24 Washington State (25-10); No. 25 Texas Tech (23-11)
Others Receiving Votes:
Texas Tech (23-11) 60; Rutgers (15-17) 57; St. John’s (20-13) 42; Xavier (16-18) 26; Michigan State (20-15) 25; Brigham Young (23-11) 16; Oregon (24-12) 16; Kansas State (19-15) 11; Boise State (22-11) 9; Saint Mary’s (26-8) 9; Clemson (24-12) 8; Dayton (25-8) 7; Ohio State (22-14) 7; Maryland (16-17) 4; Grand Canyon (30-5) 3; Mississippi State (21-14) 2; Princeton (24-5) 2; San Diego State (26-11) 2; Virginia (23-11) 2; Wake Forest (21-14); Wisconsin (22-14)
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2024-25 season: Tobin Anderson, Iona; Adrian Autry, Syracuse; John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Alvin Brooks, Lamar; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Jonas Hayes, Georgia State; Alan Huss, High Point; Donte’ Jackson, Grambling; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Niko Medved, Colorado State; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Nate Oats, Alabama; Eric Olen, UC San Diego; Matt Painter, Purdue; Michael Schwartz, East Carolina; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Stan Waterman, Delaware State; Jeff Wulbrun, Denver.
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Clemson is considered a top 40 college basketball team by AP poll voters.
The preseason AP Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll was released Monday, three weeks before the Clemson Tigers open the 2024-25 season against Charleston Southern at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson was unranked in the preseason AP poll but received nine votes for Top 25 consideration by the various sportswriters and broadcasters who make up the poll.
The Tigers’ nine votes were tied with three other teams, including the Boise State Broncos, who Clemson will face Nov. 17 in a marquee nonconference matchup pitting two teams that reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Saint Louis Billikens and Providence Friars also received nine votes.
Outside the Top 25, a total of 13 teams received more votes than Clemson, meaning the Tigers are considered a top 40 team by the media members who make up the AP poll. Two of those teams were Wake Forest and Miami; the Demon Deacons with 37 votes and the Hurricanes with 11.
The Kansas Jayhawks were ranked preseason No. 1 in the AP poll, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 2 and two-time defending national champion UConn at No. 3. The Houston Cougars (No. 4) and Iowa State Cyclones (No. 5) rounded out the top five.
The ACC had just two teams ranked in the preseason poll: the Duke Blue Devils at No. 7 and North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 9.
Clemson made the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 6 seed and reeled off three straight wins (against New Mexico, the Baylor Bears and Arizona Wildcats) to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980. The Tigers fell 89-82 to Alabama with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
This season, coach Brad Brownell’s team returns sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter and senior forward Ian Schieffelin, the ACC’s Most Improved Player from a season ago.
Clemson and Charleston Southern are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Nov. 4 in the regular season opener.
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With less than a month until the start of the regular season, here’s where this college basketball expert projects Clemson to finish in the ACC standings.
Earlier this week, CBS Sports college basketball expert Gary Parrish made his ACC predictions for the season ahead. To no real surprise, Parrish projects Duke and freshman phenom Cooper Flagg to finish first in the ACC with North Carolina second.
Parrish forecasts Clemson to finish fourth in the ACC behind Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
Per Parrish’s projections:
“Whereas Wake Forest benefitted from its best player (Hunter Sallis) withdrawing from the NBA Draft and returning to school, Clemson was not as fortunate. PJ Hall remained in — only to go undrafted. It was a good development for neither him nor the Tigers, who are coming off of just the second trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in program history. Still, Clemson should be back in the NCAA Tournament this season thanks to the return of Chase Hunter, a 6-4 guard who averaged 12.9 points and 3.2 assists last season. This will actually be his sixth year at Clemson, meaning Hunter will soon be one of the few student-athletes in history to appear in six different seasons for the same school.”
Coach Brad Brownell’s team finished tied for fifth in the final ACC regular-season standings at 11-9 in conference play. They made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed.
The Tigers then reeled off three straight wins against New Mexico, No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Arizona before falling 89-82 to Alabama in the Elite Eight in Los Angeles.
Clemson opens the regular season at Littlejohn Coliseum against Charleston Southern on Nov. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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Clemson guard Chase Hunter has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return for a sixth and final season with the Tigers.
Clemson guard Chase Hunter will forego the NBA Draft and return to Clemson.
The Tigers’ star announced in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday that he had withdrawn from the 2024 NBA Draft to return for a sixth and final season under coach Brad Brownell.
Wednesday marked the deadline for college players to withdraw from the NBA Draft.
Brownell had said earlier this month that he was optimistic about Hunter possibly returning for a sixth season with the Tigers.
“He worked out for an NBA team this week,” Brownell said back on May 9. “I’m excited for him to be able to do some of those things. I was so happy to watch him play at the level that he did in the NCAA Tournament. He was tremendous.”
An Atlanta native, Hunter started all 36 games for the Tigers a season ago. He averaged 12.9 points per game to go with 3.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds. He shot 42.4 percent from the field.
Hunter made a national name for himself in the NCAA Tournament. He scored a season-high 21 points in the Tigers’ first-round victory over New Mexico before posting 20 in the team’s upset of No. 3 seed Baylor in the second round.
Hunter added 18 points in Clemson’s upset of No. 2 seed Arizona to help the program to its first Elite Eight appearance since 1980.
In the Tigers’ four NCAA Tournament games, Hunter averaged 17.8 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds.
Brad Brownell on the possibility of Chase Hunter returning for another season.
Could Clemson men’s basketball star Chase Hunter return to Clemson for one more season?
While Hunter has declared for the 2024 NBA draft, according to head coach Brad Brownell, he is ‘optimistic’ Hunter will return for one more season. Even with his name in the mix for the draft, he has retained his eligibility for one more season.
“I’m optimistic Chase will come back. He worked out for an NBA team this week,” Brownell said. “I’m excited for him to be able to do some of those things, I was so happy to watch him play at the level that he did in the NCAA Tournament. He was tremendous.”
Hunter was phenomenal for the Tigers this past season, especially in the tournament as they made their run to the Elite 8. He earned West All-Region Team honors as the Tigers’ clear top performer in March Madness. During the regular season, he averaged 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 0.5 steals per game, while adding in 0.3 blocks per game.
Fans hope he opts to stay for another run with the program.
Brad Brownell and the Clemson men’s basketball team are losing one of their top players to the 2024 NBA draft.
Senior guard Chase Hunter took to social media Wednesday to announce that he will enter his name for the NBA draft, but maintain his eligibility. PJ Hall did the same thing last season, later opting to return for the another season with the Tigers. A smart decision from Hunter, who can see where he may land in the draft and make a decision on what is best for him.
Hunter was phenomenal for the Tigers this past season, especially in the tournament as they made their run to the Elite 8. He earned West All-Region Team honors as the Tigers’ clear top performer in March Madness. During the regular season, he averaged 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 0.5 steals per game, while adding in 0.3 blocks per game.
While he could depart for the NBA, there is still a chance he could return for one more season.
Could Clemson return one of their best players for another season with the Tigers?
According to Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, this is a real possibility. Recently appearing on Road Rage with Walt Deptula on The Roar, Brownell discussed Hunter’s upcoming decision and whether he could return to Clemson.
“There’s no question he needs to put his name through the process and see what kind of feedback he gets. We’ll see what that is, support him in whatever he decides,” Brownell said.
“I do think there’s a chance he comes back because we do have NIL and because this is a great place and if you’re not going to get drafted, you don’t necessarily have to just go do that and we’ll see.”
Hunter was phenomenal for the Tigers this past season, especially in the tournament as they made their run to the Elite 8. He earned West All-Region Team honors, as the Tigers’ clear top performer in March Madness. During the regular season, he averaged 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 0.5 steals per game, while adding in 0.3 blocks per game.
If Hunter returns to Clemson for one more year, the Tigers could be once again a dangerous dark horse.
Clemson’s underdog story ends in the Elite 8 with a loss to Alabama.
Brad Brownell and the Clemson men’s basketball team’s dream run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament has come to an end in the Elite 8 as the Tigers fell to Alabama 89-82.
The Tigers hung in with the Crimson Tide for most of the game, but self-inflicted wounds and hot second-half shooting from Alabama led to Clemson’s downfall. The Tigers are a top-ten team nationally in free throws, but they struggled mightily against the Crimson Tide. Hitting 8 of 16 free throws, Clemson came up short at the free-throw line when they needed it the most.
On the other side, Alabama was scorching hot from the three point line. The Crimson tide hit 16-36 threes, a clean 44.4%. Most of that came from Mark Sears who nailed 7-14 behind the arc.
Clemson’s run was an excellent one, with the Tigers winning four three games as underdogs. They worked hard and fought till the end, but couldn’t overcome Bama’s red-hot offense. The Tigers fall short of the Final Four but have arguably the best season in program history.
