Clemson was a team on the cusp of being a consistent top 25 team during Oliver Purnell's tenure. Purnell just wrapped up a top 20 recruiting class and Clemson basketball seemed as it was ready to consistently be a factor and make deep runs in NCAA Tournaments to come. Then Purnell left for a new opportunity at DePaul and the keys to the Tiger basketball program was given to Brad Brownell. Brad Brownell to many has been seen as a good fit for the Clemson program but in year 3 has any real progress been made?
In his first year, he took a program that was on the rise and barely made it into the NCAA Tournament. Brownell did have to implement his style of play into the program but with the talent Clemson had, it should have been a much smoother transition. Also, with the defections of Donte Hill and Noel Johnson, half of the top 20 recruiting class transferred out of the program. Both were building blocks for the future, yet Brownell was a good fit? Had he adjusted a little more to the style of his players, Clemson's starting lineup this year could have looked like this: Devin Booker, Milton Jennings, Noel Johnson, Donte Hill, and K.J. McDaniels. Four of those five average over 10 points per game in a year when Clemson is struggling to develop offense.
Regardless of the defections and what ifs, what does the future hold for Clemson? K.J. McDaniels leads the team in scoring as a sophomore and is an impact player on both sides of the floor. Jordan Roper looks like he could develop into a 4 year starter. Beyond those 2, is there anyone that gets Clemson excited about the future? Rod Hall has done well thus
far this season but it will be tough to continue to play as well as he has in ACC play. Bernard Sullivan hasn't developed and T.J. Sapp is yet another player to leave the program.
With defections from the program and a lack of depth, recruiting will be a huge fact in the progress of Clemson basketball. Clemson currently has 2 3-star recruits for next season and an offer of another 3 start recruit that will likely go elsewhere. This will be his 3rd recruiting class and he has only had 2 4-star players despite having the scholarships available to have back to back 5 player classes. Talent is more important in basketball
than any other sport with only 5 players on the court at once, so the inability to land talented players can crush a program.
In year 3 under Brownell, the program appears to be headed back in the direction it was before Purnell came to Clemson. Brownell had managed to keep the Tigers with a winning record so far in his career but the wins are going down each year. When you go 8-7(last year) and 6-4(so far this year) against non conference opponents, the chances of doing well in ACC play is not very well. In year 3 Clemson needs to play in a post season tournament in order to show progress. If not, Brownell may just be the next Larry Shyatt.
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