Clemson is used to having a target on its back in the ACC, but it’s normally Dabo Swinney’s football program that’s carrying that around.

Brad Brownell’s basketball program? That’s a different story.

Yet in a basketball conference that’s more used to having the likes of Duke, North Carolina and Virginia at the top of the standings, it’s Brownell’s Tigers that suddenly everybody else is chasing. Clemson remains the lone unbeaten in ACC play and two games ahead of the pack for first place seven games into the conference slate.

Coming off a 17-16 season that saw the Tigers miss out on the postseason all together for the first time since 2017, Clemson was picked to finish 11th in the conference during the preseason. Now Clemson is squarely in contention for just its second-ever ACC regular-season championship. That’s not a feat the Tigers have pulled off since 1990.

“It’s special,” junior big PJ Hall said.

This year’s team has an experienced nucleus of talent leading the way, including fifth-year senior forward Hunter Tyson, a bonafide ACC Player of the Year candidate who’s averaging 15.7 points and 9.8 rebounds.

Clemson has three other players averaging double figures, and all of them have been in the program for at least three years. Junior point guard Chase Hunter is on pace for career-highs in points (14.0 per game) and assists (4.2); Hall is averaging 15.1 points over his last six games; and Boston College transfer Brevin Galloway, in his seventh season playing college basketball, is shooting better than 39% from 3-point range in the last four games, helping Clemson remain the ACC’s best 3-point shooting team for now with its best shooter from deep, Alex Hemenway, still out while dealing with plantar fasciitis.

Clemson is riding a seven-game winning streak, and it’s not like the Tigers have been beating up on cupcakes. They’re 4-1 in Quad 1 games and 5-1 against the first two quadrants. All of Clemson’s Quad 1 victories have come since Dec. 30.

Fresh off its latest such win over Duke on Saturday, Clemson cracked the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this season, coming in at No. 16 this week. It’s the first time the Tigers have been ranked in the AP poll since the 2019-20 season, though it’s not something they’re all that concerned about in mid-January.

“It doesn’t even matter,” Hall said when asked about being ranked. “Just keep working, keep our heads down and keep winning games.”

There are still plenty left to play. Clemson will get another chance at a Quad 2 victory tonight when the Tigers travel to Wake Forest, a team they beat by 20 in Clemson on Dec. 2. After that are 12 more games before the ACC Tournament rolls around in early March.

Brownell said he believes his team has the seasoning and maturity to handle its new hunted status in the ACC.

“The leadership and experience of our guys is really good, and we know there’s way more work to be done,” Brownell said. “(Duke) was a great win. It counts as one, and we’ve got to try to get another one. But there are a lot of really good teams playing really good basketball in our league, and we’re just going to do what we can to put ourselves in position to win games.

“Right now, I think we’re trying to enjoy this as best we can while at the same time keeping a pretty good edge about us and a pretty good focus on what’s next and not really getting too high or too low.”

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
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Join the Tiger Club or Lady Tiger Club to help these great student-athletes and help the Tigers compete at the highest level!