With this season in the books for Clemson’s men’s basketball team, Brad Brownell is thinking about his roster for the next one.
And he said he anticipates being heavily involved in the transfer portal for a couple of reasons.
First, Clemson will lose a pair of starters and two of its leading scorers, including first-team all-ACC performer Hunter Tyson. Brevin Galloway, who averaged 11.2 points in 31 starts this season, has also exhausted his eligibility after six seasons in college.
There could be even more attrition to the starting lineup when it’s all said and done. PJ Hall will test the NBA draft waters. The Tigers’ star center is doing so without hiring an agent, keeping his eligibility intact should he decide to choose to return to school. But Brownell also has to prepare for the possibility that the Spartanburg native has played his final game for the Tigers.
“We feel good about the other guys on the roster,” Brownell said, “but we’re going to be involved in the portal.”
Clemson also has some depth it needs to fill out on the roster. The Tigers have signed just one prep player for the 2023-24 season in Lake Forest (Illinois) High wing Asa Thomas, and freshman Chauncey Gibson is transferring out of the program, opening up another scholarship for next season.
Clemson played this season with 12 scholarship players, one under the 13-scholarship limit. Assuming Hall returns – and if guards Chase Hunter and Alex Hemenway are back for their senior seasons as expected – that would put Clemson at 10 scholarships for next season.
Brownell said he doesn’t know if Clemson will get to 13 for next season, but adding multiple transfers is the plan. Guards and wings will be the targets, he said.
Basketball’s 60-day portal window opened earlier this week, giving Brownell and his staff roughly three months to find what they’re looking for.
“We didn’t (use 13 scholarships) this year, but you’re probably going to use 11 or 12,” Brownell said. “Just based on numbers, we’re going to look at another player or two depending on what’s the right fit and how old they are. I don’t know. Maybe one of them will be an older guy if we could find one that can help a little bit.”