Brad Brownell had himself a nice run the last four years, with four straight finishes in the KenPom top 50 and one in the top 15, but he only got one of those Clemson teams to the NCAA tournament. So he hasn’t built up much goodwill for a down year, which is a problem since that down year is this year.
The Tigers were hit hard by graduation after last season, and since then their luck with injuries has been terrible. Brownell brought in multiple transfers in an effort to apply a quick fix for the departing seniors, but it’s tough when injuries conspire against you.