Sunday turned out to be a quiet time for Clemson’s football and basketball programs.

Depending on how one is viewing it, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. Or perhaps both.

Those were the last 24 hours that athletes in fall and winter sports looking for another place to play had to inform their current schools of their intent to transfer while still maintaining immediate eligibility next season. As of Tuesday morning, no Clemson football or men’s basketball players had publicly announced going portaling during that time.

Considering thousands of athletes are in the portal, including more than 1,600 men’s college basketball players alone, according to Verbal Commits, Clemson has to consider this offseason a win in terms of player retention. The Tigers haven’t been immune to players looking for greener pastures, but no football players have knowingly entered the portal since reserve defensive tackle Darnell Jefferies did so in early January as a graduate transfer. The men’s basketball team lost starting guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes to the portal, but the Tigers have senior forward Hunter Tyson back for a fifth season while perhaps their most important piece, leading scorer PJ Hall, is also returning.

Clemson has also added one reinforcement through the portal so far in former Boston College guard and South Carolina native Brevin Galloway. The Tigers had Jaelin Llewellyn in their grasp last month before the former Princeton combo guard backed out of his letter of intent shortly after the ink dried on his signature. The women’s basketball team has also gotten in on the transfer action, signing former Elon guard Brie Perpignan.

With three incoming high school signees in the fold (along with a commitment from four-star combo guard Dillon Hunter), the men’s basketball team has most of its scholarships accounted for next season. But Llewellyn’s departure leaves the Tigers with one more they could use to add to the 2022-23 roster, and they still have some portal targets out there. Former Wofford guard Max Klesbit, who recently named Clemson among his finalists, is off the board after committing to Wisconsin, but Clemson has offered other perimeter players in the portal, including former Wichita State wing Dexter Dennis, who’s yet to pick his next destination after recently visiting Clemson.

As for the football team, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has brought in two transfers so far in walk-on linebacker Jesiah Carlton (Wingate) and former Northwestern quarterback Hunter Johnson, who initially signed with the Tigers out of high school and will provide experienced depth behind D.J. Uiagalelei and freshman Cade Klubnik this fall. 

But Clemson has been seeking more help from the portal, particularly along the offensive line. With more attrition than expected at center this offseason, the Tigers have been searching for a plug-and-play type at that position. In the meantime, rising senior Will Putnam has made the move from guard and got most of the first-team reps there this spring.

While Swinney didn’t rule out the possibility of also adding an experienced guard from the portal, he said bringing in a center is still his preference. But Swinney said he also doesn’t feel like it’s quite as pressing of a need for the Tigers after watching the way Putnam performed at center during the spring as well as the way some of the younger players at the position have developed.

Swinney told The Clemson Insider late last month that he’s offered scholarships to just two centers that have entered the portal since the end of the last season, one of them being former Virginia All-American Olusegun Oluwatimi, who has since enrolled at Michigan. Former Louisiana guard O’Cyrus Torrence, who chose Florida, also publicized an offer from Clemson months ago, though it’s unclear whether the Tigers offered him as a center (NCAA rules prohibit coaches from talking about specific players unless those players have signed with their team).

Could Clemson be targeting other linemen or even players at other positions? It’s possible, though Swinney said after the spring game the offensive line is still the only position he envisions possibly getting help from the portal. There could be athletes fresh into the portal that haven’t yet announced those moves that could become new targets for Clemson.

It’s also possible for Clemson to bring in transfers that enter the portal after the May 1 deadline, though those players would have to sit out a year before being eligible for the Tigers unless granted a waiver by the NCAA. Spring-sport transfers have until July 1 to enter the portal in order to be immediately eligible for the 2023 season.

In other words, the transfer portal never stops working even if it’s not quite as busy as it was before Sunday. For now, all is relatively calm on the Clemson front.

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