Italy trip could foreshadow big things ahead for Tevin Mack, Clemson hoops
Tevin Mack couldn’t ask for a better start with his new teammates at Clemson.
Mack and the Tigers basketball program spent two weeks this summer in Italy representing the United States in the World University games. Clemson went 6-0 and captured the gold medal for Team USA.
“It was great to go over there for two weeks and gel with the guys,” Mack said after scoring 44 points last week in the SC Pro Am at Heathwood Hall. “Six games over there was good for us because we’ve basically got a whole new team ... me coming in, being an older guy and coming in and wanting to be a leader and wanting to get the job done.
“Everybody was very selfless and we don’t have any egos. We are going to be able to mesh well and play well with one another, and play with one common goal which is to win.”
The former Dreher High standout averaged 9.5 points and four rebounds in the six games. More importantly, he said he was able to connect with his teammates just a few weeks after announcing he picked Clemson on June 10.
Mack is one of seven new faces on the Tigers roster but is expected to have a big impact. CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein lists Mack as one of the top-10 impact transfers in the ACC.
Junior Aamir Simms is the lone returner on the squad. Clemson also lost former Lower Richland standout Clyde Trapp to an ACL injury before the team left for Italy.
“We got potential right now to be a really good team,” Mack said. “A lot of people are sleeping on us because they don’t know what we got coming in. I think we are going to surprise some folks. We are going to play really hard and compete.”
Clemson is Mack’s third and final stop in his college career. He played two seasons at Texas before transferring to Alabama, where he sat out a year and then played last season.
Mack said he left Alabama on good terms with new coach Nate Oats. But Oats took a little shot at some of the guys who left the program when he spoke to reporters in May at the SEC meetings in Destin, Florida, back in May.
“I think you see that with some of the kids who left us,” Oats said. “We weren’t their first school. Some guys are going to go play for their third or fourth coaches. So, at some point you can’t run from adversity every single time there’s a little bit of adversity in your life.”
Mack said he was surprised by Oats’ comments and will use them as a extra motivation. But the 6-foot-6 forward/guard was already plenty motivated going into the season with aspirations of making it to the NBA.
“Going out there and showing my complete game showing I’m not just a shooter. I am a scorer. I can be a leader and playmaker with the ball in my hands,” Mack said. “I want to make it to the NBA and I want to show my full package and full game. I want to show I can do more than just shoot threes, and that is what I want to do this year.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 5:00 AM.