Clemson basketball’s Brad Brownell talks staff changes, transfers and scheduling
Including staff changes, transfer portal recruiting and a looming international trip, Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell has had a busy offseason.
Brownell spoke with The State earlier this month at ACC spring meetings to give the latest on his program. This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How’d you handle having 5 different staff departures?
BB: It was a lot, certainly, but not all unexpected. Coach (Dick) Bender had come to me before the year and said this was going to be it for him, and God bless him for his service. ... Coach (Billy) Donlon, I pretty much thought he was going to get a job. He’ll do a great job at Eastern Michigan. ... And then Coach (Jeff) Reynolds, we’d talked about him being year to year the last couple years.
Lucas (McKay) wasn’t a big surprise either. I knew he’d been talking to some folks a couple times. I think he got a great opportunity. Sean (Dixon) was probably the one that was a little bit of a surprise, but that happens in the profession.
What about the 5 new hires you brought in?
BB: Chad Warner and Chris Harriman were two guys I’d kind of had on the top of my list, waiting, knowing that this could happen. ... Chris is going to be in charge of the defense. Chad will be in charge of the offense with me. Chris has really good international recruiting ties. Chad, I love the fact that he’s been a head coach before.
Andre Morgan, I’ve known for a while and been impressed with him ... I think he gained great experience during his time at Cincinnati, coaching players at this level, recruiting at this level, scouting, just all the different things you have to do.
Chris Hollender is a guy I’ve known for probably close to 20 years. ... We just have the same values, the same beliefs as basketball coaches. ... He’s another guy with high-major experience, so he’ll be able to help in a variety of ways.
And then Tyler Murray as our new general manager: Chad (Warner) kind of pushed me over on that one. I knew of Tyler, and I was impressed with him and the people I talked to about him. I think he’ll do a great job.
What was the recruiting process like with Notre Dame’s Cole Certa?
BB: He’s a guy in the Joe Girard mold, right? A guy we played against, competed against (in the ACC). Obviously, he’s coming off some big games late in his sophomore year. He’s a guy who can shoot the ball.
I think it helped us that Cole has played against us. He came to Clemson as a freshman and saw what it was like in Littlejohn (Coliseum). He talked about that on his visit, how it was a great atmosphere and a lot of fun.
I think there was a respect there (for Clemson). So there was certainly a lot of interest. He had a lot of other schools on him, but we made him a priority and got him down. He was the first guy we got to campus, and we got his deal done.
With Ace (Buckner) and Zac (Foster), he’s a natural fit as a guy who can space the floor and shoot and score. I think he’ll fit Clemson beautifully.
You’ve got a pretty young group across the board, no?
BB: We have a unique team. It’s funny. I met with all of our guys right before they left, and it’s really a bunch of sophomores. ... My big message to all of them was, ‘Hey, you’ve gotta help me establish the culture, the daily habits of Clemson basketball.’ And it’s not easy to do that when you’re a sophomore.
A guy like Ace who played understands it a little more, but that’s where Dillon (Hunter) and RJ (Godfrey) were phenomenal last year: ‘Hey guys, this is how it works here and how we go about our business.’ Our new guys took to that.
I think our new guys this year will as well. It’s just different when it’s not a senior, somebody who’s been here for a long time, telling you what do. ... It’s a challenge that we’ve got to manage but one I think our sophomore class is excited about.
How are Carter Welling and Zac Foster doing with their respective ACL recoveries? Could Welling redshirt this year?
BB: Redshirting is still a possibility for Carter. It’s so unfortunate. ... That injury was hard, but he’s attacking it well. Mature guy, so not surprised. But we’ll just have to wait and see with him because it happened so late (March 11).
Zac is doing well. It’s not as easy for a younger player dealing with that kind of injury. ... It was hard on him. The kid just plays with a smile and has an unbelievable bounce about him and an electricity with how he plays. But he’s doing well and is on track. I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to play some in Italy.
What else are you excited about with that Italy trip?
BB: I think we leave July 27, and we’ll be gone about 10 days. It should be a lot of fun. Obviously, we get to practice a little bit extra because of it during the summer, which will be good for our team.
I’ve always said the games overseas are not as important as the opportunity to just play and get some young guys some experience, which is what we’ll do.
And the life experience that you get by taking guys to places they’ve never been and just bonding in different ways with each other, that’ll be the best part.
Thoughts on the NCAA Tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams?
BB: I know a lot of people aren’t in favor of it, but I’m in favor of it. The number of Division I schools just keeps growing and obviously with that the percentage of teams getting in has gotten to be less and less. Even now, about 20% of teams getting in is what the (expanded) tournament will be. I think that’s right.
I don’t think it’s going to drastically change things. I’d probably be against it if the format changed, where now you’re adding another week to the tournament or something like that. But the fact that we can still do it on Tuesday and Wednesday and there’ll just be a couple more (play-in) games, I get it.
To get more fan bases involved and guys playing, I think it’ll be a good thing. I know people are worried about watering it down. I think there’ll be a couple more mid-majors that get to go, and there’ll certainly be some more high majors.
Do you think expansion helps Clemson basketball?
BB: The ACC told us that the ratings for college basketball this year were higher than ever. They’ve been up. Maybe (expansion) continues to challenge coaches to keep scheduling good games. That’s a big part of it.
If we (Clemson) can continue to schedule up a little bit and schedule more games ... I know where we live, in November and December it’s still hard to get people to think about basketball. But that’s why you go to the Maui Invitational, so you’re playing meaningful games. That’s why you do the ACC-SEC Challenge.
You’re playing in games people watch, and then they start thinking a little bit more about basketball. I’m hopeful that it’ll be a good thing for us.
