‘Found the best spot for me’: Girard talks transfer to Clemson
By: Staff Report June 12, 2023

One of the big transfer additions for the Clemson men’s basketball program this offseason is Joseph Girard III.

The former Syracuse standout announced last month that he would be joining Brad Brownell’s program. His transfer decision came down to Clemson and LSU, and the ACC’s Tigers beat out the SEC’s Tigers for the prolific scoring guard.

Girard recently spoke with Chris Spatola on SiriusXM ACC Radio about his transfer to Clemson and more. He was asked if staying in the ACC was important to him in his transfer decision.

“To be honest, at first it was a little nerve-wracking for me,” Girard said. “I didn’t know if I really wanted to do it just because with the experience and everything, you kind of want to see if you can play in a different environment, see if you can play in a different style with all the other leagues that they offer. But some of the questions I would ask during the recruiting process is like, ‘I’ve played four years already in this league, and all these teams kind of know me and know what I can do, like maybe it’ll hinder me if I come back because they already know what I can do,’ and a lot of the coaches in a few of the schools that recruited me around the ACC would say, ‘Well you don’t think they’re going to know you if you go to the Pac-12 or the SEC?’ So, they kind of put it in a good perspective, and it made sense. And also looking at it, there’s a lot of pros to it. You’re familiar with all the teams, you’re familiar with all the arenas, you’re familiar with all the environments and you’ve been through it for four years.

“So, it wasn’t important to me and going into the portal, I really didn’t know what to expect, to be honest with you. I just put my name in there and within two or three minutes started getting some calls. From there, it kind of took off, but I didn’t really have any agenda I guess of where I wanted to go or where I wanted to be. I just kind of went into it with an open mind and found the best spot for me.”

In four seasons with the Orange, Girard scored 1,652 points, totaled 444 assists and grabbed 361 rebounds while also collecting 165 steals and making nearly 300 3-pointers (36.3 percent). The Glens Falls, N.Y., native was efficient at the charity stripe as well, shooting 86.3 percent from the foul line in his career.

Girard averaged 16.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists for Syracuse last season, finishing sixth in the ACC in scoring and second in league games (17.8).

Brownell spoke with The Clemson Insider at the ACC spring meetings last month about what the Tigers are getting in Girard.

“Joseph Girard’s a really good player,” Brownell said. “He can really shoot the basketball. I think he’s extremely competitive. He’s got toughness. He’s a proven scorer in the ACC. He’s played the point, he’s played the two, he’s run off screens, he’s played in pick and roll, he’s shot deep 3s, he’s made game-winning shots. He’s just a guy that’s done it all.”

We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class.  Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class.  Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.

Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.