CLEMSON – Basketball season is on the horizon with Clemson’s season opener Nov. 6. With less than a month of preparation left, head coach Brad Brownell addressed the media on all things Tigers hoops.

Last season had a bitter end, missing the NCAA Tournament when Clemson had done all they could to build a strong resume. Brownell discussed how he’s put that behind him, yet it still lingers.

“I’ve put it behind me. There are still times it’s frustrating but we’re onto this year. We’ve got to move past it and can’t worry so much about putting numbers out there. We’ve just got to try and handle our business and I think we’re playing a very difficult schedule,” Brownell said.

Switching gears into 2023-24, that challenging schedule can alleviate any possibility Clemson could be robbed if they “handle business” as Brownell said. Non-conference matchups feature Alabama, TCU and Memphis while ACC play presents a strong challenge as always.

Taking a look at this year’s team, Brownell sees guards Joe Girard III and Chase Hunter as the leaders alongside star forward PJ Hall. He still wants more out of his senior guard, and even sent him to a leadership camp over the summer. That said, Brownell feels like there’s a fire missing without Hunter Tyson.

“The one thing that we will miss with Hunter Tyson that is much more difficult now with young people that Hunter would do is Hunter was not afraid of confrontation. He was very aggressive and he had a dominant personality…it needs to be driven by the team, not the coaches if we’re really going to be good, so there has to be a camaraderie there,” Brownell said.

On top of the key leaders, depth is something that can be a strength for Clemson this season. Brownell is confident with the sophomores and the transfers. Forward Jack Clark is still working back, but Brownell likes the group up front.

The guards are obvious with Hunter and Girard, but the frontcourt is where the Tigers have grown. Chauncey Wiggins, Ian Schieffelin, RJ Godfrey, Bas Leyte and the aforementioned Hall are all players Brownell expects can make this team dynamic and big.

“I feel like yeah we’ve got great depth up front, which is important,” Brownell said. “And we can do a couple things. We can play bigger which was really the big change in our team last year…it does give us five or six guys we can play across the front line, the wing area which gives us some size.”

The lengthy Clemson Tigers open the season against Winthrop in Littlejohn Coliseum Nov. 6, where the depth and length will be on full display for the first time, tipping off at 7 p.m.