Brad Brownell explains why revenue sharing will be a ‘challenge’ for Clemson hoops
Some coaches are hesitant to offer specifics about revenue sharing.
Brad Brownell’s approach is … quite different.
Clemson’s men’s basketball coach has been remarkably candid this summer about the challenges he foresees while running a program that’s getting a smaller piece of the pie than the majority of power conference schools – plus some mid-majors.
Brownell made headlines in July when he publicly confirmed to TigerIllustrated.com that Clemson basketball will be allotted just 11% of the university’s revenue-sharing money pool, which Clemson anticipates will be about $18 million in 2025-26.
And that’s directly correlated to the fact coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson football program will receive one of the country’s largest shares — about 86%.
In other words: Clemson football is getting about $15.48 million to fund its roster this season, while Clemson men’s basketball — which has set a program record for wins in a three-year period — is getting about $1.98 million.
Brownell said on Tuesday he understands the economics behind that decision and is confident Clemson’s administration will find other ways to help his team.
Still, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
“It’s going to be a challenge moving forward,” Brownell said. “… I’m confident that we’ll continue to be successful moving forward, but there are going to be some hurdles that are going to make it difficult for our staff.”
Less funding in a ‘new world’
Those hurdles primarily relate to player acquisition and retention. Most elite college basketball transfers are commanding at least $1 million out of the portal, and it’s not out of the ordinary for starting-caliber to ask for (and receive) six figures.
In recent years, Clemson and Brownell have prioritized recruiting and retaining homegrown players (Hunter Tyson, PJ Hall, Ian Schieffelin, Chase Hunter) and adding a few veteran, high-impact transfers each season (Joe Girard III, Viktor Lakhin, Jaeden Zackery). The results have been impressive.
Over the past three seasons, Clemson is 74-30 overall (.711) and 43-17 (.716) in ACC play. The Tigers made the Elite Eight for the first time in 40 years in 2024, and Clemson’s 2025 team won a program-record 27 games and 18 ACC games.
But can Clemson sustain that success with a reduced salary cap? The Tigers’ roughly $2 million spending pool doesn’t exactly jump off the page.
ACC schools including UNC, Duke and Louisville are expected to allocate more resources than the Tigers. A recent CBS Sports report said Kentucky plans to devote 45% of its revenue share money to basketball. And schools without top football programs – think Rick Pitino’s St. John’s squad – might suddenly have an advantage.
Brownell admitted to TigerIllustrated.com in July that the emergence of those schools as additional competitors was “a little bit frightening” for Clemson, which usually wouldn’t bat an eye in a recruiting battle with VCU or College of Charleston.
Along those lines: Clemson basketball lost a promising player this offseason when freshman guard and former top 150 recruit Del Jones hit the transfer portal. Jones wound up at Radford, a Big South school in Virginia, because Radford offered him more money than Clemson could. Yes, Radford outspent Clemson.
“But that’s part of this new world of college basketball with the transfer portal and money,” Brownell said. “It’s going to happen. Just is what it is. It’s hard.
This year’s transfer class a proof of concept?
It’s not all financial doom and gloom for the Tigers, though. Clemson is currently funding another round of facility upgrades. Brownell, 56, has a new contract that puts him among the ACC’s highest paid coaches. And athletic director Graham Neff has been adamant about finding ways to support Clemson men’s basketball in ways outside sheer revenue-sharing money.
On top of that, Brownell has worked for years to cultivate a small but mighty group of Clemson basketball donors, whose funding was key for past facility upgrades and — more recently — has helped retain homegrown stars and draw solid portal players.
The impact of potential name, image and likeness (NIL) dollars is TBD, though. NIL is “stackable” on top of players’ revenue share money, but deals above $600 must go through a “clearinghouse” that has already drawn some criticism.
“The administration’s trying to help everybody as much as they can,” Brownell said. “That’s why you’re seeing increased scholarships and the commitment that they’ve made to all the other sports. … I think we’ll find a way to work through what we need to work through for basketball.”
This spring offered some proof of concept. After losing most of its roster to graduation or the portal, Clemson reloaded with a six-player transfer class which 247Sports ranked as the No. 6 portal group in the ACC and No. 30 nationally.
The top player in the class was former Nevada forward Nick Davidson, an all-conference big who picked Clemson over power-conference suitors Virginia, Washington, Texas and Notre Dame. The Tigers also landed forward Carter Welling (Utah Valley), forward RJ Godfrey (Georgia), forward Jake Wahlin (Utah), guard Jestin Porter (Middle Tennessee State) and guard Efrem “Butta” Johnson (UAB).
Combine those players with returning starter Dillon Hunter and some intriguing young players — Zac Foster and Chase Thompson, to name a few — and you have the making of the kind of roster Brownell has developed a knack for maximizing.
Still, some extra spending money wouldn’t hurt.
“Because of the success of the football program, a lot of us in the other sports have benefited greatly,” Brownell said. “But hey, we’re all competitive. We want to make sure that our situations are as good as they can be so that we can be successful.”
