Hunter Tyson – Page 6 – Syndication Server

Uncharacteristic defense spells end of Clemson’s win streak

Clemson’s men’s basketball team has had a longstanding calling card under head coach Brad Brownell. While the Tigers’ offense has a tendency to come and go, Clemson can usually count on its defense to keep them in games and pull out wins more often …

Clemson’s men’s basketball team has had a longstanding calling card under head coach Brad Brownell.

While the Tigers’ offense has a tendency to come and go, Clemson can usually count on its defense to keep them in games and pull out wins more often than not. But with the Tigers looking to match their longest winning streak of the season Tuesday, they broke down on that end of the floor.

It was an uncharacteristic defensive showing for Clemson (9-5, 1-2 ACC), which faltered down the stretch in a 10-point loss to a Virginia team that’s also known more for defense than offense under its veteran coach, Tony Bennett. Yet the Cavaliers, who came in ranked 315th among Division I teams in scoring, poured in 75 points – 12 more than their season average – and shot a blistering 54.3% from the field to end Clemson’s four-game winning streak.

Granted, it was the Tigers’ first game since beating the same Virginia team on the road on Dec. 22 because of coronavirus-related issues in other programs, but Brownell said that wasn’t the reason his team didn’t perform as well this time around.

“Our defense wasn’t as good as it was up there (in Charlottesville), and they capitalized on it,” Brownell said. “I thought our guys were fine. I didn’t think we were rusty or anything like that from the layoff.”

It was just the sixth time this season a team has scored 70 points against Clemson, which came in yielding less than 65 points per game. The Tigers, who also rank fourth in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense (40.6%), held Virginia to just 50 points and 36% shooting during a 17-point win in the teams’ first matchup, but Clemson had few answers Tuesday for the inside-out combination of Jayden Gardner and Amaan Franklin, who combined for 36 of the Cavaliers’ points.

Gardner did most of the damage. Virginia’s senior forward poured in 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting, all of those buckets coming inside the 3-point line. The Cavaliers outscored Clemson 34-22 in the paint after scoring just 12 points from there in the first meeting.

“They were in the paint way more than we wanted them to be,” Brownell said. “We had a little bit of slippage in a couple of game-plan things that we kept talking about but didn’t do a good enough job with. And I just think Gardner was very good (Tuesday). We doubled him a couple of times, and we didn’t double him some. We tried to mix it up, and I thought he made some good decisions and was very efficient. That was a huge factor.”

Virginia made some effective adjustments to slow down Clemson, which scored nine fewer points than its season average. Senior forward Hunter Tyson said the Cavaliers doubled the post more and often trapped ball screens, forcing the Tigers’ offense to operate farther away from the 3-point line and ultimately the basket.

Still, Clemson shot 46% from the floor and had four players reach double figures led by Tyson’s 15 points. Tyson said it wasn’t the Cavaliers’ defensive adjustments that won them the game, which was tied at 57 with 6 minutes, 51 seconds left. Virginia outscored the Tigers 18-8 the rest of the way, making four of its last eight shots.

“I think it just comes down to us on the defensive end,” Tyson said. “We just couldn’t get stops when we needed to. Credit to their guys. They hit some really big shots.”

Brownell also credited the Cavaliers for some of their shot-making, adding he wasn’t disappointed in how his team played. But Clemson will look to bounce back with a stronger defensive effort Saturday when the Tigers travel to North Carolina State (8-7, 1-3).

“They just played better down the stretch than we did,” Brownell said. “It was a good basketball game.”

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Fresh off another win, Clemson hoops now dealing with ‘the hard part’

Clemson’s men’s basketball will have some extra time to prepare for its next game, which now looms as one of the Tigers’ most impactful of the season. Ask the Tigers, though, and they say that’s not necessarily a good thing. “That’s the hard part of …

Clemson’s men’s basketball will have some extra time to prepare for its next game, which now looms as one of the Tigers’ most impactful of the season.

Ask the Tigers, though, and they say that’s not necessarily a good thing.

“That’s the hard part of all of this,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We’re playing so good the last two weeks that we don’t want to take a break.”

Clemson (9-4, 1-1 ACC) is fresh off its fourth straight win, one that came in convincing fashion and helped the Tigers get a proverbial monkey off their back. Their 17-point win at Virginia on Wednesday was not only their best victory to this point – Clemson had not previously beaten any teams in the top 100 of the NET rankings – but it also snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Cavaliers dating back to 2008.

“When you do finally get one like (Wednesday), you’re really proud of your team because you know your team really had to execute and play well,” Brownell said. “Fortunately we were able to do that.”

Clemson has put together its current string of wins – its second-longest winning streak of the season – in a 12-day span. Now the Tigers will have to wait a week before they take the court again when No. 2 Duke visits Littlejohn Coliseum on Dec. 29. It’s Clemson’s next chance to start picking up some Quadrant 1 wins for its postseason resume, something the Tigers don’t yet have.

But the Tigers, who jumped to No. 53 in the NET following Wednesday’s win, have picked up their first two Quad 2 wins during their winning streak, which began with a neutral-court victory over Missouri Valley Conference contender Drake and includes a rivalry win over South Carolina. Wins over top-75 NET teams at home, top-100 teams on a neutral court and top-135 teams on the road count as Quad 2 wins. Home wins over top-30 teams, neutral-site wins over top-50 teams and road wins over top-75 teams count as Quad 1 victories.

The higher the quadrant, the better the win is in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, which uses the NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, to analyze teams’ season-long performance when determining at-large selections and seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

Much to Clemson’s dismay, the Tigers will have to wait a little longer than usual to try to keep the quality wins coming, though Duke (11-1, 1-0) will also be coming off a week-long break following its win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

“We want to get back in (the gym), practice for two or three days and play somebody again just because we feel so good about where we are,” Brownell said. “Momentum is such a powerful thing I think in sports.”

In addition to the stingy defense Clemson has grown accustomed to under Brownell, the Tigers bounded back from a poor shooting performance against South Carolina to pull away for its latest win. The Tigers made 8 of 22 3-pointers against Virginia and continued to get significant contributions from Hunter Tyson, PJ Hall and South Florida transfer David Collins, who had 11-point, 11-rebound double-double for his sixth game in double figures.

Tyson had 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting to lead the Tigers in scoring for the second straight game. The senior forward is averaging 16 points over the last three games. Meanwhile, Hall tallied 11 points and seven boards as Clemson finished plus-9 in rebounding margin (35-26) and limited the Cavaliers to just 12 points in the paint.

“I think we have a lot of confidence and momentum, but the key for us is really not worrying about our opponent,” Tyson said. “What’s important is the guys who wear Clemson. Just trusting our coaches, trusting the game plan and going out every night and executing that game plan to the best of our ability.

“We’ve done a good job of staying together, so I think as long as we continue to do that, we’ll continue to see success.”

Brownell said one positive to the extended break is a chance for Hall to get some additional rest. Clemson’s sophomore big played more than 32 minutes Wednesday despite dealing with a sore foot that limited his practice time ahead of the last two games, Brownell said.

The Tigers will break for the Christmas holiday before reconvening as a team Saturday.

“Beyond that, I think most of us would rather play,” Brownell said. “But it definitely feels much better going into Christmas and the break with a couple of big wins.”

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‘Starting to figure our team out’ has Clemson streaking back into ACC play

Clemson’s up-and-down season to this point may be starting to level out. There have been blowout wins and victories over fellow high-major programs. Clemson has also lost out on opportunities for others with repetitive double-digit leads that have …

Clemson’s up-and-down season to this point may be starting to level out.

There have been blowout wins and victories over fellow high-major programs. Clemson has also lost out on opportunities for others with repetitive double-digit leads that have slipped away. Lately, though, the Tigers have experienced more of the former.

With its rout of South Carolina over the weekend, Clemson (8-4, 0-1 ACC) kept its momentum going into the second and most important half of its season. The Tigers’ three-game winning streak heading into tonight’s game at Virginia (7-4, 1-0) is their second-longest of the season, trailing only their 5-0 start to the season.

“I think it’s good for us,” forward Hunter Tyson said. “I think the guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now, and I think we’ve just got to keep doing that.”

Clemson’s current win streak includes its best two of the season – Drake and Carolina, who rank 103rd and 111th in the latest NET rankings, respectively – after the Tigers, coughing up sizable second-half leads in each, missed out on wins over St. Bonaventure, Miami and West Virginia, which sits at No. 42 in the NET. The games against St. Bonaventure and West Virginia were played before Thanksgiving while the five-point loss at Miami was three weeks ago.

One of the biggest differences between then and now, players say, is more cohesion among a group that wasn’t all that familiar with one another at the start of the season.

“It takes time,” Tyson said.

Clemson lost two starters off last season’s NCAA Tournament team, including all-ACC forward Aamir Simms. But that was just the beginning of the attrition.

With six lettermen no longer around, the Tigers turned over half of their roster. Clemson replaced them with seven newcomers, including a pair of transfers in guard David Collins and forward Naz Bohannon. Collins, who spent the previous four seasons at South Florida, was immediately inserted into the starting lineup and has been there ever since.

And with Simms gone, sophomore PJ Hall, a former top-75 national recruit out of nearby Spartanburg, stepped in as a first-time starter in the frontcourt after averaging just 9.9 minutes per game a season ago.

“It’s not easy to just come straight in with multiple guys who are coming in where they are the best player on their team coming into another program,” Hall said. “Everyone has to buy into their own role. So it’s not you just go onto the court and gel. It takes a little time, but we’re getting there for sure.”

After scoring just 10 points apiece in losses to West Virginia and Rutgers, Hall has averaged 17.2 points over the last four games and leads five Tigers averaging double figures on the season. Clemson also ranks fifth out of 350 Division I teams in 3-point field-goal percentage (41.4), sixth in the ACC in scoring (75.9 points per game) and, after pulling down a season-high 51 boards the last time out against Carolina, in the top half of the ACC in rebounding (37 per game).

The Tigers aren’t perfect. Long scoring droughts are still an issue at times. Clemson had to go to overtime to finish off the win against Drake after going the final 6 minutes, 34 seconds of regulation without a bucket. And Carolina nearly cut a 25-point deficit in the second half to single digits, getting within 11 points late before Clemson extended its lead again.

The Tigers, who began the week ranked 67th in the NET, will have to start maximizing their in-conference opportunities if they plan on building a legitimate postseason resume. Wednesday’s game, which has been moved up to a 7 p.m. start, starts a string of 19 straight ACC games to end the regular season, and Virginia is one of eight top-100 NET teams in the conference. Duke (twice), North Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech are also still on the schedule, which are shaping up to be chances at Quad-1 wins.

But Clemson likes where it is a lot more now than where it used to be.

“Just little things that we’re kind of getting used to,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We’ve been pressed a lot of times now. We’ve had to do a lot of things. You kind of just get used to your team as you get into 10 or 12 games. I think we’re starting to figure our team out pretty well.”

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Surging COVID-19 cases nationwide a cautious reminder for Clemson hoops

Clemson’s men’s basketball team got a nudge last week reminding it that the Tigers nor any other college basketball program trying to get games in isn’t out of the woods when it comes to COVID-19. The numbers serve as a stark reminder for the rest …

The numbers serve as a stark reminder for the rest of America, too.

“Very scared about it,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

While Brownell didn’t give a specific number, he said “almost all” of his players and coaches are vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. So with a roster of largely healthy 18-to-22-year-olds, most of Brownell’s concern lies with how Clemson’s schedule might again be impacted by a potential breakout within his own roster, that of a future opponent or both.

Clemson, which is slated to resume ACC play Wednesday at Virginia, has yet to have any games altered because of coronavirus-related issues this season, but the Tigers got a scare over the weekend when a COVID-19 outbreak hit South Carolina. Carolina coach Frank Martin said midweek that multiple players would miss the Clemson game because of injuries and COVID-related issues, and that was before the Gamecocks underwent one more round of testing Friday morning before leaving Columbia for Saturday night’s game.

Had Carolina had any more positive tests then, the game likely would’ve been postponed or called off. But the Gamecocks, without half of their top six scorers, ultimately made the trip to Clemson, where the Tigers beat Carolina, 70-56, in a game they led by as many as 25 points.

PJ Hall, Clemson’s sophomore big, said the Tigers wanted to play. Fellow forward Hunter Tyson said he trusted the medical staffs to allow both sides to do so safely.

“They said we were good to play, so I said, ‘All right, let’s do it,'” Tyson said.

Brownell admitted there was “a little bit” of concern on his part, but, like Tyson, he ultimately trusted the feedback from the medical personnel in the hours leading up to tipoff.

“The doctors are like, ‘Hey, two or three days with nothing,’ so you feel like we’re probably OK to play,” Brownell said. “It’s a hard call either way because you want to play and the kids want to play, but we thought we did the precautions that we needed. And, knock on wood, we’ll be fine.”

Other programs around the country haven’t been as fortunate.

College basketball programs both in and around the Palmetto State have been impacted by the surge in cases, which has resulted in a flurry of games being postponed and canceled recently nationwide. Boston College and Wake Forest were added to the tally Tuesday when the ACC canceled their game against each other scheduled for Wednesday because of COVID-related issues within Boston College’s program.

Even if Clemson is playing right now, Brownell’s team can relate. The Tigers had a handful of games postponed or canceled last season because of COVID-19 protocols, including back-to-back contests against North Carolina and Syracuse in early January. Clemson temporarily paused all team activities at the time after having a positive test and subsequent contact tracing. The Tigers had to pause again in February.

Clemson was 9-1 before pausing the first time. The Tigers lost their next three games by an average of 24 points and went 7-4 after that with a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament.

“People that followed our team last year, we were playing dynamite, and then we went on a pause for a week,” Brownell said. “That week, we were miserable. And we were bad for the next 10 days. We lost three games badly. When we had our second pause, we probably coached better and figured out how to do it better, but you’re asking a lot of your players to stop and start mentally and physically. Your rhythm. Your timing. It’s hard.”

Which is why Clemson is trying to do everything in its power to prevent that from happening again. With a majority of the team vaccinated, Clemson has eased up on the social distancing when coaches and players are around each other at the team facilities, though they’re still wearing masks. But Brownell said he and his coaching staff have already started talking about whether the team should stop piling together in the film room and start meeting in larger spaces out of an abundance of caution.

“You’ve got to be careful,” said Brownell, who added he’s encouraging his coaches and players to get booster shots.

When the players aren’t on campus, “it’s on our mind not to do anything dumb,” Hall said.

“We’re committed to a certain journey and trying to drive our team, so that’s on our forefront,” Hall continued. “We’re not trying to do anything dumb and spread anything around our program. Our coaches know that. Our players know that. Our managers and staff. So day in and day out, we’re precautions. We still have some of our coaches getting tested. We take things very seriously.”

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Clemson suffocates Carolina for runaway rivalry win

Clemson hadn’t beaten its in-state rival on the hardwood in nearly three years, but the Tigers’ defense made sure that drought didn’t last any longer Saturday. In what more closely resembled a rock fight for the first 20 minutes and change, Clemson …

Clemson hadn’t beaten its in-state rival on the hardwood in nearly three years, but the Tigers’ defense made sure that drought didn’t last any longer Saturday.

In what more closely resembled a rock fight for the first 20 minutes and change, Clemson used a suffocating stretch late in the first half and well into the second to pull away from South Carolina for a 70-56 win at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hunter Tyson had 18 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season while PJ Hall added 16 points and eight boards for the Tigers (8-4), who notched their third straight win.

It was Clemson’s first over Carolina (8-3) since Dec. 22, 2018. The matchup with the rivals’ first since Carolina’s win at Littlejohn during the 2019-20 season with last year’s matchup being canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Saturday’s game was in limbo as recently as Friday with COVID-19 issues again popping up in Carolina’s program. But the Gamecocks tested again Friday morning and still made the trip to Clemson late that afternoon without half of their top six scorers because of COVID-related issues and injuries. Carolina inserted three new players into the starting five, but both teams struggled to hit shots early.

They combined for just eight made baskets through the first 13 minutes, 40 seconds of game time before Clemson made six of its last 11 shots of the first half. Hall’s putback gave Clemson a brief 21-19 lead, and after a Carolina basket, the Tigers ripped off a 9-0 run for their largest lead of the half, taking a 30-24 advantage into the break after Chico Carter’s 3 at the buzzer for Carolina.

But the Tigers were just getting started.

Clemson opened the second half on a 22-3 spurt, which was part of a 31-6 run beginning at the 2:57 mark of the first. The Gamecocks missed their first 11 shots coming out of the locker room, going more than 8 minutes without a basket until J’Von Benson’s putback dunk ended Carolina’s drought with 11:54 left in the game.

By that point, Clemson led by 23, and the Gamecocks never got closer than 11 the rest of the way. The Tigers shot just 33.3% from the floor but raised that clip to 38% in the second half. Clemson also gave itself plenty of second and third looks with 19 offensive boards, part of a plus-16 rebounding advantage (51-35) for the Tigers.

It proved to be enough given Carolina’s struggles to score. The short-handed Gamecocks shot just 32.7% from the field, including a 25% clip from 3-point range. Their leading scorer coming in, Jermaine Couisnard, finished with just five points on 1 of 3 shooting – seven points fewer than his season average.

With non-conference play in the books, Clemson will try to keep its winning streak going when it jumps back into ACC play Wednesday at Virginia.

This story will be updated.

Brownell, Tyson hold court after loss to St. Bonaventure

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Clemson fell to No. 22 St. Bonaventure, 68-65, on Friday in the second round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. You can watch Brownell and Tyson talk about the game in their press conference at the Charleston Classic: …

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Clemson fell to No. 22 St. Bonaventure, 68-65, on Friday in the second round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic.

You can watch Brownell and Tyson talk about the game in their press conference at the Charleston Classic:

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Clemson shoots past Bryant in rout

Clemson’s men’s basketball team didn’t have much trouble staying perfect Monday. The Tigers carved up Bryant’s zone defense and eventually tightened things up on the defensive end to beat the Bulldogs, 93-70, at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hunter Tyson led …

Clemson’s men’s basketball team didn’t have much trouble staying perfect Monday.

The Tigers carved up Bryant’s zone defense and eventually tightened things up on the defensive end to beat the Bulldogs, 93-70, at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hunter Tyson led five double-figure scorers for Clemson (3-0) with 20 points while Nick Honor added 16 points and seven assists for the Tigers, who, for the first time this season, didn’t have to overcome a second-half deficit.

PJ Hall added 14 points in 24 minutes while added Al-Amir Dawes and David Collins chipped in 11 and 10, respectively, for Clemson, which added to a 12-point halftime lead by shooting a season-high 56% from the field. The Tigers went inside and out against the Bulldogs’ 2-3 zone, scoring 40 points in the paint and knocking down a season-high 10 3-pointers. Hall, fresh off a 21-point outing against Wofford on Friday, finished 7 of 13 from the field while Tyson, Honor and Dawes had the hot hands from distance, combining to shoot 8 of 13 from beyond the arc.

Peter Kiss led Bryant (1-2) with 24 points while Chris Childs chipped in 15, but Clemson led by as many as 26 thanks to its defense eventually catching up to the offense. The Tigers held Bryant to just two 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes, a stark contrast to a first half that saw the Bulldogs make more than 53% of their shots.

Clemson finished with 20 assists on 35 made baskets. Collins also had nine rebounds for the Tigers, who finished plus-12 (39-27) on the boards.

Clemson came out humming against Bryant’s defense, getting almost any look it wanted with crisp ball movement. The Tigers made a point to work it inside to Hall, who had 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting to go along with five rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Tyson complemented that with 11 points as the Tigers shot better than 63% from the floor in the first half. But Bryant got hot from deep to stay close early.

The Bulldogs, behind Kiss’ 17 first-half points, made seven of eight shots at one point with four of those baskets coming from 3-point range. Bryant sank seven 3s in the opening 20 minutes and ripped off a quick 16-7 run to take a 30-28 lead on Kiss’ layup with 6 minutes, 53 seconds left in the half.

But Tyson answered with a corner 3 on Clemson’s next possession, which ignited another surge for the Tigers. Clemson sank a trio of 3s in the final 2:29, including Dawes’ buzzer-beater, and ended the half on a 24-10 run for a 52-40 advantage at the break.

The Tigers held Bryant to one bucket over the first 6 minutes and change coming out of the locker room, and back-to-back 3s from Honor capped a 17-8 spurt that gave Clemson a 21-point lead with 13:15 left. The Tigers cruised from there.

Clemson will now take its show on the road for the first time this season. The Tigers will face Temple on Thursday in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

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Clemson rallies past Presbyterian for opening win

Clemson was coming off another trip to the Big Dance. Presbyterian? Not so much. For a while Tuesday, it was hard to tell. Presbyterian won just seven games a season ago competing in the Big South Conference. Yet it was the Blue Hose, with five …

Clemson was coming off another trip to the Big Dance. Presbyterian? Not so much.

For a while Tuesday, it was hard to tell.

Presbyterian won just seven games a season ago competing in the Big South Conference. Yet it was the Blue Hose, with five starters back, that looked more like the Power Five program coming off its most recent NCAA Tournament appearance, leading by double digits at various times inside Littlejohn Coliseum.

But the Tigers eventually got it going to avoid a disastrous start to the new season.

Clemson (1-0) used a second-half surge to overcome a frigid start for a 65-53 win in both teams’ season opener. Al-Amir Dawes scored a game-high 21 points while Hunter Tyson and David Collins added 14 apiece for the Tigers, who shot 47% from the field after making just seven baskets in the opening 20 minutes.

Rayshon Harrison and Brandon Younger each scored 12 points for Presbyterian (0-1), which led by as many as 11 and held a 38-28 advantage early in the second half before Clemson made its move. The Tigers went on a 13-1 run to take the lead on Dawes’ old fashioned three-point play. After Owen McCormack’s layup drew Presbyterian even at 41, PJ Hall responded with a putback slam that ignited a 12-3 spurt to give Clemson a nine-point lead with 7 minutes, 45 seconds left that it never came close to relinquishing.

The Tigers extended their lead to as many as 16 thanks in large part to Dawes, who caught fire in the final 20 minutes. The junior guard poured in 16 of his points in the second half, finishing just a point shy of tying the career-high 22 points he scored against Boston College in February of 2020. He finished 7 of 16 shooting from the field and 4 of 9 from 3-point range with all but one of those makes from distance coming after halftime.

Clemson shot 52% from the field in the second half while holding Presbyterian to 29.5% shooting after the break, a stark contrast to how things started.

Clemson had just two made baskets after the first eight minutes and change, and it didn’t get much better offensively from anywhere on the court for the Tigers. Clemson shot just 35% from the field in the first half.

The lack of touch extended to the free-throw line, where the Tigers made just seven of their first 15 shots. Meanwhile, Presbyterian shot nearly 41% in the opening 20 minutes and went on a 7-0 run with 5:58 left in the half to take a 21-13 lead. The Blue Hose went up by as many as 11 a few minutes later when Brandon Younger got free in the lane for an uncontested layup.

Presbyterian’s six offensive boards helped the Blue Hose score eight second-chance points in the first half, and they turned the Tigers over seven times. Yet Clemson stayed close thanks to Tyson, the Tigers’ lone offensive threat in the early going. The senior forward scored nearly half of Clemson’s first-half points (11), including the last five. His jumper at the buzzer cut Presbyterian’s lead to 32-24 going to the locker room.

It didn’t take long after that for the Tigers to roar back and take control.

Brownell practicing some patience as Clemson embarks on new season

Roster turnover is commonplace in college basketball, but Clemson’s primary departures this offseason weren’t exactly insignificant. The Tigers are still getting used to life with Aamir Simms and Clyde Trapp, a pair of key contributors on Clemson’s …

Roster turnover is commonplace in college basketball, but Clemson’s primary departures this offseason weren’t exactly insignificant.

The Tigers are still getting used to life with Aamir Simms and Clyde Trapp, a pair of key contributors on Clemson’s latest NCAA Tournament team. Simms, a three-year starter in the frontcourt, finished his college career with 1,122 points before moving on to the professional ranks after last season. Meanwhile, Trapp, a veteran guard, started 50 games during his time with the Tigers, including all 24 last season, before transferring to Charlotte.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell knows those voids won’t be easy to fill, though there are no shortage of options. The Tigers have seven players back from a team that won 16 games amid a pandemic-shortened season, but with the same number of newcomers joining the fold, Brownell isn’t interested in rushing to find all the answers as the Tigers embark on a new campaign. That will officially start Tuesday when Presbyterian makes the trip to Littlejohn Coliseum for both teams’ opener.

“When you lose that kind of experience, you’ve got to have a little patience in terms of trying to figure it out,” Brownell said. “Your players are trying to figure it out as well. Some of them are trying to figure out their own games and what they can do consistently well.”

Clemson’s mix of old and new faces got a test run last week in the Tigers’ exhibition win over Georgia Southwestern State, which showed just how much work there is left for Brownell to do to tighten up his rotation. Fourteen players logged minutes with all but three playing at least 11 minutes.

Sophomore big PJ Hall, who is being counted on to replace some of Simm’s production, was the standout, finishing with 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting in just 19 minutes. Freshmen Ian Schieffelin (13 points) and Ben Middlebrooks could also help in the frontcourt along with Youngstate State transfer Naz Bohannon and senior forward Hunter Tyson, one of three returning starters.

Guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes, the Tigers’ top returning scorer at nine points per game last season, are the other two. They will likely be joined in the starting lineup Tuesday by another transfer, former South Florida guard David Collins, who had a solid Clemson debut playing off the ball with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the exhibition.

Freshman Josh Beadle and sophomores Alex Hemenway and Chase Hunter are among the other options in the backcourt. Each played more than 10 minutes in the exhibition, though Beadle and Dawes each had four turnovers.

Even if he doesn’t reach quite as far as he did in the exhibition, Brownell said he still plans to go deep in his bench against Presbyterian and perhaps beyond. The substitutions may not always be based on performance.

“We’ve got 10 guys or 11 guys we’re trying to play, so sometimes it’s just giving other guys an opportunity,” Brownell said. “You’re not always coming out because of something you did. It might be that somebody else brings something different, a different set of skills that we want to see. Maybe it’s a different grouping of guys we want to see play together. It’s not always you get taken out for a mistake. It could be strategy. Maybe we’re downsizing. Maybe we’re upsizing. Whatever it may be.”

Ultimately, though, there’s only so much experimenting that Brownell is going to do now that the real games are here.

“You’ve got to understand that these games count now, so you can’t be so patient that guys don’t understand there’s a sense of urgency,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of urgency now that games count, and we’ve got to do a good job as a staff of trying to put our guys in a position to be successful.”

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Brownell: Clemson’s leadership will have to come by committee

Clemson will tip off the start of its 2021-22 men’s basketball season Monday against Presbertaryian College. With that, head coach Brad Brownell held court with reporters during Wednesday’s media availability. He touched on a myriad of topics, but …

Clemson will tip off the start of its 2021-22 men’s basketball season Monday against Presbertaryian College.

With that, head coach Brad Brownell held court with reporters during Wednesday’s media availability. He touched on a myriad of topics, but most importantly, talked about the team’s chemistry and leadership with some new additions in the fold.

Of course, Clemson has the unfortunate task of having to replace Aamir Simms, one of the better players in the history of the program. It won’t be easy, but Brownell and Co. are seemingly up for the challenge.

“Aamir was an outstanding everything,” Brownell said Wednesday. “He was an outstanding player. An incredible career in terms of points, rebounds, assists, all those things. But, equally as important as a leader and just a guy that you could really count on day to day in terms of practice habits and building team and caring about team and leadership.”

From a leadership standpoint, replacing Simms is going to have to be a group effort.

Brownell believes that returning senior Hunter Tyson has taken a big step forward, as far as the leadership role is considered. He’s developed into a good mentor, especially when bringing along Clemson’s two graduate transfers—David Collins (USF) and Naz Bohannon (Youngstown State).

“I think a lot of the guys on our team have a lot of respect for Hunter because of the way he’s developed through the program and kind of earned his spurs and by the way he’s started to play at times last year,” Brownell said. “I think he’s a good player, who’s gonna have a good senior year.”

Brownell indicated that Clemson is trying to get junior guards Al-Amir Dawes and Nick Honor, who the Tigers are counting on for a lot of productivity, to take a little more ownership in the leadership role, he said.

“It’s probably not as natural for them as some other guys, but they’ve got to come out of their shells a little bit and I think they’re starting to do that,” Brownell added. “ The two grad guys have got to help us in some ways with experience and just poise and leadership, really based on experience and having played at the level and been in difficult environments.”

Clemson’s coach has been pretty adamant that not one player on this roster is going to be able to fill Simms’ shoes on and off the court. It’s going to have to be a concerted group effort from returning players and those who have arrived via the transfer portal.

“I think it’s gonna be by committee and we’ve seen a lot of different guys step up in different ways throughout the course of the season,” he said.

Brownell again shifted the focus of Wednesday’s conversation towards Honor and Dawes, who he believes will play a key role in developing the chemistry of the team on both ends of the floor.

“I really believe that Nick and Al in some ways will determine a lot of our spirit,” Brownell said. “I think Aamir was kind of the guy that led our spirit last year and what I mean by that…your guards, the ball is always in their hands when you have it to start every possession and then they’re guarding it to start every possession.

“So, we need those two guys to be extremely active defensively and aggressive defensively, to set a tone initially for our defense. And, if those guys do a good job in that area, I think it really helps the other guys with how we want to play defensively.”

Essentially, Clemson will need Honor and Dawes to set the tone on both ends on the floor, but it seems like Brownell would like to get that spark going defensively. If Honor and Dawes can come out and be ball-hawking guards, who play with high energy and communicate effectively, the Tigers can consistently be disruptive on the opposing end this season.

Brownell wouldn’t say if he’s looking to start Honor and Dawes together, as the Tigers aren’t going to play their hand just yet. Still, he is looking for them to be a vital part of the team’s chemistry and leadership going forward.

Speaking of chemistry, Brownell was asked how he figures that out and how that plays into his selection of the team’s starting lineup and rotations.

“There are certain lineups that are sometimes better offensively and some lineups that are better defensively,” he said. “You’re working that through with your opponent and sometimes if you have depth, you have the ability to change sometimes and make some changes. And sometimes you like the way groups play together. Consistently, they perform well and you see some things that you really like or you like bringing a player off the bench because they give you something different.”

Brownell used junior guard Alex Hemenway as the perfect example. He’s a guy who can come off the bench and shoot. Other times, it’s a guy like Honor, who brings great energy and speed off the bench. There’s a lot of different factors that go into that, but chemistry is, obviously, a huge part of that.

Staying on the theme of chemistry, how have Clemson’s new additions, between Collins, Bohannon and the three true freshmen — Ian Schieffelin, Ben Middlebrooks and Josh Beadle — gelled with the Tigers’ returning players?

“Really good chemistry in terms of off the court and how we interact in practice, ” he said. “I think the guys genuinely like each other. I think the transfers have done a really good job of coming in and ‘Hey, how do I fit in? What’s my role? What’s my niche? What do you guys need me to do?’ I think the older guys have done a really good job of making those guys feel welcome and telling them how much we need them and are excited about having them here.

“And, I think everybody has tried to coach up the young guys. There’s just a lot.”

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