Brownell, Tigers try to find positives of Greenville home

On a late September morning, Jaron Blossomgame, Donte Grantham, Jordan Roper and Josh Smith rolled up to the Saturday Market on Main Street in downtown Greenville to “crash” the event with a flash mob.

The Clemson basketball players brought a portable hoop, several rally cats, a DJ, the mascot and plenty of smiles to engage with the Upstate community. They played games with the kids and signed autographs.

The team recently shot the cover of its media guide in the big city, where passers-by saw the players in uniforms, stopped to ask what they were doing and when they would begin playing in Clemson’s home away from home for the 2015-16 season.

These critical marketing tools aren’t just a way to get Greenville talking about Tiger basketball. Coach Brad Brownell hopes it also creates excitement for his team of “nomads.”

Clemson begins its season in Greenville with Thursday’s exhibition game (free to the public) at 7 p.m. against Lenior-Rhyne while opening night is set for Nov. 13 against North Carolina Central. The Tigers, who are without their on-campus home while Littlejohn enjoys a $63 million renovation, are trying to find the positives in a difficult situation. Bon Secours Wellness Arena, also know as “The Well,” is located nearly 40 miles from Clemson’s campus.

That’s already created a host of logistical issues Brownell and his team are hoping to work through in the eight-game non-conference portion of their schedule before January’s nine-game ACC home campaign.

“It’s more than just playing in an arena that’s not going to be as intimate and not going to feel like home and not going to be a place you practice,” Brownell said. “It’s the travel itself. The wear and tear of 50-minute trips there, 50-minutes home.”

Brownell says it will be hard on the players, who won’t have as much time to just go home and take a two-hour nap before a game or catch an NBA contest on television when they get home.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Brownell, Tigers try to find positives of Greenville home."