Brad Brownell’s name floated for Indiana job opening. Clemson coach reacts
Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell responded on Wednesday to his name being floated for the open head coaching job at Indiana.
Brownell has not been formally connected to the job at IU. But his name has picked up steam as a potential candidate as the Hoosiers, who are moving on from Mike Woodson, have reportedly made little progress with other possible options.
Brownell’s name popped up on a number of initial “hot boards” for the Indiana job. On Tuesday night, national college basketball insider Jeff Goodman said Brownell was a top name to watch in the search going forward, along with Drake’s coach.
“I think the two names to watch are probably Brad Brownell and Ben McCollum,” Goodman said on his podcast. “I think it’s gonna end up being one of those two.”
Brownell responded to his name being connected to the IU job on Wednesday, during a previously scheduled media availability before the 2025 ACC Tournament.
“Yeah, I’m not going to talk about potential jobs,” Brownell said. “I have a great job and I’m 100% focused on this team and what we’ve got ahead of us. Trying to do everything I can to help us continue to win the next game.”
Brownell was also asked if it was strange seeing his name circulated.
“No, I mean, you’re grateful that you’re doing good things, right?” said Brownell, who is an Indiana native and played college basketball at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, about an hour from IU’s campus. “That’s what’s going to happen if you’re doing the right things and you’re winning enough games.”
Brownell, 56, is in his 15th season as Clemson’s coach after arriving from Wright State. He is the school’s all-time winningest coach, and this year’s Tigers team has set single-season records for regular-season wins (26) and ACC wins (18).
Clemson, which made the Elite Eight last year as a No. 6 seed, is also set to make back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in Brownell’s tenure.
The Tigers are ranked No. 10 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll and handed No. 1 Duke their only ACC regular-season loss on Feb. 8. Clemson is projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per bracketmatrix.com.
Last summer, Brownell received a five-year, $20 million contract extension through April 2029. He’s set to make $3.5 million in total salary (excluding bonuses) in 2024-25, which is a $500,000 raise from his total salary in 2023-24 ($3 million).
Per Brownell’s contract, obtained by The State via public records request, he would owe Clemson 20% of the remaining total compensation on his contract if he leaves for another job this year (roughly $4 million this year).
The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament and play either SMU or Syracuse in a Thursday night quarterfinal at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.
Brownell coached at UNC-Wilmington from 2002-06 and Wright State from 2006-10 before coming to Clemson to replace Oliver Purnell. He said he’s “never been a self-promoter” when it comes to seeking out other jobs or getting his name into the mix.
“And that’s partly because how much I really like Clemson,” he said Wednesday. “I mean, obviously, I sent both daughters here, been here 15 years. So I think this place is really a special place. Proud of what we’ve built.”
Explaining Brad Brownell, Indiana buzz
Brownell’s coaching profile has risen significantly over the past two years.
The Tigers have won 20-plus games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2007-11. They’ve make two of the last three NCAA Tournaments and were among the four teams left out in 2022-23, when they missed the field with a 23-11 record.
Brownell, who became the ACC’s longest-tenured coach upon Leonard Hamilton’s retirement from Florida State, has also drawn widespread praise for how he and his staff have managed the NIL and transfer portal era of college basketball.
By embracing NIL and the portal with open arms, Clemson has convinced homegrown talents such as PJ Hall, Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin to stay put and combined them with high-impact transfer such as Joe Girard III, Viktor Lakhin and Jaeden Zackery to produce consistent winning basketball.
Entering their regular-season finale, the Tigers were fourth among all ACC teams in total wins (166) and conference wins (89), only trailing Duke, UNC and Virginia.
Brownell is 291-194 overall at Clemson (.600) and 146-128 in the ACC (.532). This year will mark his fifth NCAA Tournament appearance with the Tigers in 15 years.
As for his Indiana ties: Outside of playing at DePauw, Brownell grew up in Evansville and was high school teammates with Calbert Cheaney, who was later the national player of the year at Indiana. Cheaney is currently on staff at IU.
He also started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Evansville and was an assistant coach at the University of Indianapolis in the 1990s.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 11:06 AM.
