Basketball season without forward Donte Grantham begins today for 18th-ranked Clemson as the Tigers get set to travel to Charlottesville, Va., to take on second-ranked Virginia for a Tuesday night ACC tilt.
Of course Grantham was lost for the season in the Tigers’ win over Notre Dame after he went down clutching his right knee midway through the second half. An MRI on Sunday revealed the senior tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season.
“We feel awful for him,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said during Monday’s ACC Coaches Teleconference with the media. “He is just an unbelievable young man. He is certainly a terrific player who is having an All-ACC type season.”
Grantham ranked second on the Clemson team in points (14.2 ppg.) and rebounds (6.9 rpg.), while tallying the third-most assists, second-most blocks and fourth most steals.
“He is also a real leader in our program and is a guy that I have certainly loved coaching the last four years,” Brownell said. “It is a big loss for our team, but certainly it is something we are going to move through and Donte will help us with that with his leadership.”
Grantham was shooting an impressive 56-percent from the field and 42-percent from three-point range.
However, Clemson (16-3, 5-2 ACC) must now move on without him as it continues to push towards its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011.
Brownell says Aamir Simms and David Skara will most likely fill in for the injured Grantham.
Simms has played in 18 games this year off the bench and is averaging 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field. Skara has played in 10 games thus far, mostly at guard, and is averaging 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 38.9 percent from the floor. Neither has shot well from the foul line.
However, Simms made a huge three-pointer from the right side with 1:04 to play to seal Saturday’s win over Notre Dame, a huge confidence boost for the freshman and the rest of the team.
“Aamir Simms and David Skara will both play at that position for us moving forward,” Brownell said. “David has also played some guard for us so my guess is that will open up some time for some other guards that maybe have not played very much whether its Clyde Trapp gets a few more minutes, Scott Spencer could play or A.J. Oliver could begin to get some time. As we move through the season we will have to see how that goes game-to-game.”
Clemson will travel to Virginia for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday. The game will be televised by FOX Sports South (Regional Sports Network).