The Swinney household, as Clay Swinney put it recently, is a “very competitive” one.

“Obviously, I’ve got two older brothers and then my dad’s very competitive, so very competitive household growing up, playing just about anything – basketball is definitely one of them,” Clay, the youngest son of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, said in a press conference the week of the Oct. 7 game vs. Wake Forest.

Clay, a redshirt freshman holder/receiver for the Tigers, took some time during that press conference to talk a little trash to his dad.

Clay mentioned one of his dad’s life goals was to not lose to one of his sons in a pickup basketball game before he turned 50, but Clay said he ended that dream when he beat Dabo at 49 years old.

Clay went on to say he believes he can give his dad a “beatdown” on the basketball court nowadays.

“My dad, one of his life goals was to not lose to one of his sons before he turned 50, and I actually beat him when he was 49 for the first time, and he was not happy about it. But if we played now, I think it would be a beatdown, for sure,” Clay said, laughing.

“I think I can drive by him a little bit, but I do trust my jump shot… I know we’ve had some battles since, and I don’t think he wants to play me right now.”

Dabo, apparently, isn’t buying that smack talk from his son.

The Tigers’ head man made it clear during his Tuesday press conference this week that he can hold his own in hoops games against Clay.

“He’s full of crap, too. Yeah, that was a good interview till that moment,” Dabo said, smiling. “He would win a few, but I’m gonna win my share, too.”

Dabo added that he got the best of Clay in another sport this past weekend, when the Tigers had an open date and no football game to play.

“I did beat him in pickleball this weekend,” Dabo said. “Apparently this pickleball is a thing, so I worked on that a little this weekend. That was fun. Got a good sweat in.”

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