Brownell, Clemson basketball riding high during historic stretch
While Dabo Swinney and Clemson football were off playing for a national title in New Orleans Brad Brownell was busy making his own history.
The Clemson men’s basketball coach became the first to ever beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill last Saturday and then became the program’s winningest coach when the Tigers upset No. 3 Duke on Tuesday.
And the Tigers did it while most of the local media members were covering the football team.
“We played better without you guys,” Brownell told a packed room of media members Thursday. “Don’t take it personal.”
Brownell was in a joking mood. After all, the Tigers have won three consecutive games over Tobacco Road schools.
Clemson kicked off the new year with its first ACC win, an 81-70 victory over N.C. State. Then the Tigers ended futility, beating the Tar Heels 79-76 in overtime to end an 0-for-59 streak at North Carolina.
They followed that up with a 79-72 victory over Duke at Littlejohn Coliseum that marked the highest ranked team Brownell has ever beaten at Clemson. It was the first time since 1995-96 that the Tigers beat the Tar Heels and Blue Devils in the same season.
“It’s obviously been a great couple weeks,” Brownell said. “Guys are playing really well, with tremendous confidence. I thought we executed really well against Duke.”
That win over a top-5 program also meant Brownell earned his 178th victory at Clemson to pass Cliff Ellis all-time.
“I’m obviously humbled and honored to have won as many games as I’ve won,” Brownell said. “I’ve coached a lot of really great players and had some great help with some tremendous assistant coaches. I’m proud to have been here this long and battling in this league and have some success. Certainly we want more than what we’ve had.”
The way this team is playing, there’s hope. The Tigers (9-7, 3-3 ACC) won the World Games in Italy over the summer, but that experience didn’t translate early. Because of injuries, chemistry issues and poor shooting, Clemson lost six of seven games during a stretch from late November until the end of 2019.
The players never lost faith in what they were doing, though. Lower Richland High School standout Clyde Trapp has returned from an ACL injury to add a calming influence in the backcourt. Forward Aamir Simms, the team’s leader and top scorer, has averaged 20.6 points per game the last three contests.
“It’s not like I ever thought this team couldn’t be good or couldn’t play at a good level and beat some good teams,” said Brownell, whose team plays at N.C. State on Saturday at 2 p.m. “I thought that we could. We just had to figure out some things to help them be successful and then we had to do it a few times to help them build some confidence.”
Combined with South Carolina’s buzzer-beating upset of No. 10 Kentucky on Wednesday night, the Palmetto State has enjoyed the rare college basketball spotlight this week, something Brownell said was a positive for both him and Gamecocks coach Frank Martin.
“When things go well and you’re playing well, you can beat anybody in the country,” Brownell said. “That’s part of what we’ve shown here this week. Congrats to Frank and their program for an outstanding win.”
Next Clemson basketball game
Who: Clemson (9-7, 3-3 ACC) at NC State (12-5, 3-3)
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
When: 2 pm Saturday
TV channel: Fox Sports Carolinas