New-look Clemson basketball team rolls in season opener. What we learned
Clemson men’s basketball used 12 players in its season opener Monday. And only one of them played in a Tigers uniform last year.
It’s a season of change for Clemson and coach Brad Brownell, and it officially got underway Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum with an 88-38 blowout win against New Hampshire in their opening game of 2025-26.
New Hampshire went 8-24 last year and ranked 355th out of 364 Division I schools in NET ranking, so there wasn’t much to glean Monday from a big-picture aspect.
Clemson was supremely more talented than UNH and won a game they were supposed to win by a lot. Their 50-point victory even covered the game’s massive point spread (41.5 points, per FanDuel).
But for a roster 76% comprised of new players, the on-court reps were crucial.
“We’ve still got to figure everybody out,” Brownell said postgame.
Clemson transfers Nick Davidson (Nevada), Jake Wahlin (Utah), Carter Welling (Utah Valley State), Jestin Porter (MTSU) and Butta Johnson (UAB) all made their debuts, while former Clemson player RJ Godfrey (a transfer in name) returned to his old haunts after playing one season at Georgia.
Also making their debuts for Clemson: true freshmen Zac Foster, Chase Thompson and Trent Steinhour, and redshirt freshmen Ace Buckner and Dallas Thomas.
The only guy on the court Monday who’d seen the floor at any point during Clemson’s 2024-25 season? Senior guard Dillon Hunter, who was probably a welcome sight for fans who are just now pivoting from Clemson football to hoops.
Brownell started Hunter and Porter at guard and Wahlin, Godfrey and Davidson at forward, but he made a mass substitution — five in, five out — less than four minutes into the game and had played 11 of 12 available guys by the 13:14 mark of the first half vs. New Hampshire (0-1) when Thomas checked in.
Nobody was asked to do too much, and nobody played more than 22 minutes. But Clemson (1-0) showed some hints of what a team that lost its top five scorers and nine total scholarship players from last year’s roster may look like.
Hunter — a starter down the stretch for Brownell last season until he broke his hand in the ACC tournament — was reliable with seven points. Godfrey (nine points, nine rebounds) slid right back into his “energy guy” role.
Davidson, Clemson’s top portal get, poured in 10 points and five rebounds from the post. Wahlin, an interesting piece as a 6-foot-10 forward, was impactful with 11 points (including a 3-pointer and an and-one) and four rebounds.
And of all the freshmen and redshirt freshmen, Buckner — the son of former Clemson basketball great Greg Buckner — looked ready to play a role off the bench. He racked up a team-high 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting in his first game.
Foster, the No. 65 overall recruit in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the Class of 2025, may not be far behind him. He shot 2-7, but he was effortless in transition a few times, gliding down the floor and speeding past defenders for layups.
Slow start, blowout finish
The Tigers let New Hampshire hang around early and led by 11 points (22-11) with 8:43 to go in the first half. Then Clemson kicked it into high gear and finished the half on a 23-5 run, the sort of burst you expect a power conference team to eventually find against an American East team.
Clemson led 43-16 at halftime and never looked back. The Tigers led by 20-plus points the entire second half as they moved to 15-1 in season openers under Brownell in front of a modest but loud crowd of 7,349 at home.
The early-season tuneup continues with two more home games against mid-majors before Clemson gets its first real challenge — a road game at Georgetown on Nov. 15 — and transitions into the Charleston Classic and, in a month, big games vs. No. 15 Alabama (ACC/SEC Challenge) and No. 8 BYU (Jimmy V Classic).
Until then, it’s time for a Clemson roster featuring the most transfers (six) and most overall new players (11) in Brownell’s 16 seasons to see if they can position themselves as a competitive team heading into ACC play in late December.
“When you play so many guys, guys are going in in short spurts, and some of these guys are used to playing more, especially some of the transfers,” Brownell said. “It’s not easy to get used to all of that, but right now, I’m heavily committed to playing a lot of players. ... That’s the best way, long term, for our team to be successful.”
Clemson men’s basketball: Next four games
- Friday: vs. Gardner-Webb, 7 p.m. (ACCN)
- Nov. 11: vs. Morehead State, 7 p.m. (ACCNX)
- Nov. 15: at Georgetown, noon (Peacock)
- Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama, 9 p.m. (ACCN)
This story was originally published November 3, 2025 at 9:05 PM.
