First look at former Clemson hoops star Ian Schieffelin at football practice
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and basketball star Ian Schieffelin had joked for years about what type of player Schieffelin could’ve been had he pursued football.
As of this week, that experiment is officially underway.
Schieffelin, a former All-ACC forward at Clemson who announced in May he was using his final year of eligibility to play tight end for the Tigers football team, took part in his first two practices at the team facilities Thursday and Friday.
Wearing a No. 18 jersey, an orange Clemson helmet and his signature mop of dark, curly hair, Schieffelin went through warmups and drills just like any other tight end on the roster. Given his backstory, though, there were a few extra eyes on him.
The 6-foot-7 Schieffelin played football at Grayson High School in Georgia up until his sophomore year and was good enough to draw interest from power conference programs including Syracuse, The State previously reported.
He gave up football to focus on basketball, came to Clemson as a three-star recruit and quickly became one of the better developmental stories of Brad Brownell’s coaching tenure.
Famous for his rebounding skills and an unassuming frame that didn’t exactly scream “superstar,” Schieffelin was named the ACC’s Most Improved Player as a junior and was a second-team All-ACC pick as a senior.
He averaged a career-high 12.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a senior and was part of the winningest three-year stretch in Clemson basketball history, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2024 and 27-win season in 2025.
Most assumed Schieffelin’s Clemson career was over after the 2025 basketball season, but he took advantage of a seldom-used but widely available NCAA rule to try his hand at football and potentially pursue a pro career.
The NCAA gives each athlete a five-year “eligibility clock.” Since Schieffelin, 22, played four years of basketball without any injuries, he had one year of eligibility remaining to use in a different sport if he wanted.
Former Duke basketball player Greg Paulus and Clemson guard Rod Hall used the same rule to extend their college stints by a year in a different sport. Paulus played a year of quarterback at Syracuse in 2009; Hall played WR at Northern Iowa in 2015.
Schieffelin chose Clemson football ... and promptly went viral for it.
When he takes a snap this season, he will be the first Clemson athlete to appear in both a football and a men’s basketball game since former WR DeAndre Hopkins.
“I think he’ll be fine when it comes to catching the ball and running routes,” Swinney said of Schieffelin. “I think all that stuff will come pretty quick for him. He;s just gotta take the physical parts. There’s definitely gonna be a learning curve, no doubt about it. But I think just who he is will shorten that.”
Schieffelin, listed as 245 pounds on Clemson’s 2025 basketball roster, has bulked up to 265 pounds, per Clemson’s 2025 football roster. At 6-7, he is the tallest receiver or tight end on the Tigers’ roster by 2 inches (transfer WR Tristan Smith is 6-5).
Preseason practice and the performance of other tight ends will go a long way toward determining what role Schieffelin will play for Clemson in 2025.
The Tigers graduated all-time TE receptions leader Jake Briningstool this spring but return veterans Olsen Patt-Henry (20 games) and Josh Sapp (28 games) as well as Christian Bentancur, a promising redshirt freshman coaches have raved about.
But there’s precedent for Schieffelin’s pivot. Star NFL tight ends Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham transitioned from basketball to football. Just last year, former BYU and Baylor basketball player Caleb Lohner decided to give football a try at Utah.
Playing tight end, the 6-7 Lohner caught four passes for 54 yards and four touchdowns. He was a seventh-round NFL Draft pick by the Broncos in April.
“He hasn’t played football since the 10th grade, so it’s been a while,” Swinney said of Schieffelin. “But this is a high-level athlete, a highly competitive dude. ... He’s done great. He’s bought in. He’s gotten stronger. He’s worked really hard to give himself the best chance mentally to go compete.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM.
