As Amanda Butler addressed the crowd of Clemson supporters who came to watch Monday’s selection show at the Coliseum Club at Littlejohn Coliseum, she gave them one final message after she said her thank you.
“We are not done yet,” she said.
The Tigers (19-12) are not just satisfied about earning their first NCAA Tournament bid in 17 years, they also want to make some noise as well and stay as long as they can.
Clemson, the No. 9 seed in the Portland Region, will play No. 8 South Dakota in Starkville, Miss., on Friday in the first round at 7 p.m. EST.
“We do not want our limitations to ever be our expectations,” Butler said. “As much as we are thrilled to be here in the tournament, I think that we all enjoy each other so much and this has been such a special year, we don’t want it to end with just getting an invitation.”
The Tigers are having their best season in 17 years, which is the last time they made the tournament. They are coming off a 9-7 season and seventh place finish in the ACC, which is also the program’s best since the 2001-’02 season.
“We want to play our best basketball on Friday. We want to prepare every day between now and then to just get a little bit better each day so that we feel like we are actually putting our best foot forward on Friday,” said Clemson’s first-year coach. “Hopefully, the scoreboard will reflect that and will be enough to win, obviously, against a very worthy opponent.”
Clemson’s turnaround is one of the best stories in college basketball this season. The Tigers were 1-15 last year and won just nine conference games in the previous four seasons combined prior to Butler’s arrival. Now, in one year, she has her team poised and believing they can make some noise in the tournament.
“I am having fun. I like this group,” Butler said. “I want to coach these two (Dani Edwards and Simone Westbrook) as long as I can because we know, obviously, the next loss will be the last time we actually get to be together on the court like that.”
–Photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications