Undermanned Clemson basketball still seeks to take next leap as tournament contender

Nov. 2—CLEMSON — At the ripe age of 57 years old and entering his 17th season at the helm of Clemson men’s basketball, head coach Brad Brownell is just now hitting his stride.

Brownell became the Tigers’ head man just one year after Dabo Swinney was promoted from interim coach to full-time leader of Clemson football. He watched the team that plays next door to Littlejohn Coliseum dominate the college landscape for years while his own program made the NCAA Tournament just three times from 2010 to 2023, including a tournament snub in 2023 thanks to losses against weaker South Carolina, Loyola Chicago, Boston College and Louisville teams.

There were even instances where fans and critics thought Brownell should be fired. Those people are gone now.

Brownell, through use of the transfer portal and NIL, has been able to build more capable rosters in recent seasons and bring in higher-ranked high school recruits on a more frequent basis. As a result, Clemson has made the NCAA Tournament three seasons in a row and pushed all the way to the elite eight in 2024.

Clemson extended Brownell in 2025, inking a six-year, $27.5 million contract through 2031.

Now the standard is raised. The tournament is expanding to 76 teams this year, and Brownell’s last two teams were bounced in the first round. Progress for Clemson this season would mean making it into the tournament and through the first two rounds, successfully becoming one of 32 teams remaining.

It may be his biggest challenge yet.

“The one thing that’s been hard with our team this year — we didn’t have a lot of these guys in the summer, some of our mainline guys,” he said. “We’re trying to just figure things out a little bit. And there’s probably more of that still going on now with our team than there maybe was the last couple years at this time.”

As Brownell has said many times this season, Clemson has been put in a position this offseason where — despite being allowed to roster 15 players — will be limited to 12 and likely only play nine, at least to begin the year.

How’d they get here?

It starts with injuries. Clemson knew it would be missing Carter Welling to start the year after he tore his ACL in March. He had a minor setback in the preseason and is on track for a return around the start of conference play in late December.

What Clemson didn’t know is it would be without Zac Foster for even longer than anticipated. Foster tore his ACL last December and missed the rest of the 2025-2026 season. He was pushing for a return to start the year but wasn’t a sure thing.

Then he tore his ACL again, the team announced Oct. 13. There is no timeline for his return.

The loss of Foster and temporary loss of Welling is a big blow for the Tigers. Foster was primed to run the point for Clemson. Welling was the team’s best rebounder, and they missed him badly as Iowa dominated the glass and sent the Tigers packing from last year’s Round of 64.

Foster and Welling make 14. Who’s 15?

Enter Dillon Hunter. Or exit. Or, well, nobody really knows yet.

Hunter sued the NCAA in Cobb County (Ga.) for a fifth year of eligibility and was granted the extra season in August. The NCAA appealed and was granted a stay on the ruling in September, reversing the decision until the appeal process is complete. Hunter voluntarily dismissed himself from the lawsuit without prejudice on Oct. 27.

Leaving the lawsuit on his own accord opens the door for Hunter to pursue eligibility in a different lawsuit, but as of now, there’s no word on that. He’s currently ineligible.

“There’s a lot of things we’re looking at. I’m not getting into the lawyer stuff,” Brownell said.

OK, so 12. Who are they?

Ace Buckner, fresh off of shoulder surgery in March, will be Clemson’s lead point guard. Notre Dame transfer and sharpshooter Cole Certa will play off the ball in the backcourt. Freshman guard and four-star recruit Harris Reynolds will come off the bench.

That’s about the extent of Clemson’s backcourt depth without Hunter.

In the frontcourt, Clemson will run an all-transfer lineup of David Fuchs (San Francisco), Liutauras Lelevicius (TCU) and Dylan Faulkner (Samford). Returning wings Chase Thompson and Dallas Thomas will come off the bench first and look to take leaps forward in Year 2. Trent Steinour will also get minutes in the frontcourt.

That leaves two freshmen, forward Will Stevens and guard Amare James, as well as sophomore forward Blake Davidson, likely to play limited minutes off the bench.

There’s a long way to go before Clemson is at full strength or sees its full potential this season, but early returns have been promising. The Tigers went 2-0 in preseason exhibitions against Georgia and Presbyterian. Faulkner and Buckner combined for 41 points against the Blue Hose and should be able to carry the load just enough until Welling returns and a decision is made on Hunter.

When that happens, who knows. For now, Brownell is doing what he always has: Getting the most out of the least.

Clemson begins its season on Nov. 2 vs. Stetson at 7 p.m.

Clemson men’s basketball

2025-2026 record: 24-11 (12-6 ACC)

Postseason: NCAA Tournament (lost in first round)

Coach: Brad Brownell (483-292, 25th season overall, 316-207, 17th season at Clemson)

Key losses: F R.J. Godfrey (12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.6 apg); G Jestin Porter (9.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.3 apg); F Nick Davidson (9.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)

Key returnees: F Carter Welling (10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 apg); G Ace Buckner (8.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)

Top newcomers: F Dylan Faulkner (Samford, 17.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg); G Cole Certa (Notre Dame, 12.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.8 apg); G Harris Reynolds (St. Pius X Catholic, Atlanta, Ga.)

Key games: Nov. 23-25 — Maui Invitational; Dec. 1 — vs. Auburn; Dec. 12 — at TCU; Jan. 27 — at Miami; Jan. 30 — vs. Duke; March 6 — at Louisville

2026-2027 schedule

NOVEMBER

2 — Stetson, 7 p.m.; 6 — American, 7 p.m.; 9 — North Dakota, 7 p.m.; 13 — Georgetown, 6 p.m.; 16 — The Citadel, 7 p.m.; 23 — Ole Miss (Maui Invitational), 2:30 p.m.; 24 — Washington or BYU (Maui Invitational), TBD; 25 — TBD (Maui Invitational)

DECEMBER

1 — Auburn (ACC/SEC Challenge), 7 p.m.; 6 — Le Moyne, 1 p.m.; 12 — at TCU, 4:30 p.m.; 15 — at South Carolina, 9 p.m.; 19 — Cincinnati (Heritage Bank Arena, Cincinnati), 9 p.m.; 22 — Colgate, 2 p.m.; *29 — Virginia, 6 p.m.

JANUARY

2 — *at N.C. State, 1 p.m.; 5 — *at Boston College, 9 p.m.; 9 — *Wake Forest, noon; 12 — *Georgia Tech, 9 p.m.; 16 — *at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.; 23 — *Florida State, noon; 27 — *at Miami, 7 p.m.; 30 — *Duke, 4 or 4:30 p.m.

FEBRUARY

2 — *at Virginia Tech, 8 p.m.; 6 — *California, noon; 10 — *Syracuse, 7 p.m.; 13 — *at Florida State, 3:15 p.m.; 16 — *at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.; 20 — *Stanford, noon; 23 — *at SMU, 10 p.m.

MARCH

2 — *Notre Dame, 7 p.m.; 6 — *at Louisville, noon; 9-13 — ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.), TBD

*Atlantic Coast Conference

Reach Jackson Castellano at jcastellano@postandcourier.com. Follow him on X @jaxacastellano.

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