CLEMSON — When meeting with the media on Wednesday to give an update on his program following the 2023-’24 season, Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell spoke in length about the significance of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
Using NIL advantageously is vitally important for Brownell and his program, and he says it’s crucial to success in the current landscape of college athletics and basketball.
“It’s everybody’s toolbox in men’s basketball – and not just men’s basketball, it’s other sports too, now,” the longtime Clemson head coach said.
“In college basketball right now, NIL is a major factor in it,” he added. “It’s a tool that folks have to have to be successful. It’s certainly something that folks are using to make decisions.”
Key transfer additions, such as Joseph Girard III and Jack Clark, played a big role in Clemson’s historic run to the Elite Eight this past season, and the Tigers have already signed two high-level transfers ahead of the 2024-’25 season in former Boston College guard Jaeden Zackery and former Cincinnati forward Viktor Lakhin.
On Thursday, the Tigers plucked former Duke center Christian Reeves from the portal. The 7-foot-1 center picked Clemson over Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Florida.
This isn’t something Brownell and his staff have just started. Clemson has used the transfer portal, even before it was called the transfer portal, for years. Clemson’s 2018-’19 team had three transfers, which were all starters, in guards Shelton Mitchell and Marquise Reed and center Elijah Thomas. All three played a huge role in Clemson’s Sweet 16 run that season.
In the last six years, only 24 schools in men’s college basketball have played in two Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament. Clemson is one of those 24 schools.
Keep in mind, more than 350 schools play Division I men’s college basketball. Also, the Tigers are one of five ACC schools that reached such a status.
“I’m doing a ton of fundraising, folks, and have been for 14 years,” Brownell said. “One of the reasons why we were in the Elite Eight is because of all the fundraising, friend-raising, whatever you want to call it, for 14 years.”
Brownell’s program wouldn’t be where it is right now without Clemson’s investment in men’s basketball, through facility improvements and NIL. Also, Clemson’s coach isn’t shying away from the fact a lot of it has come from his own efforts to sell the program.
“It doesn’t just happen with NIL – it happens with improving your facilities,” he said. “It happens with donor retention. It happens with getting folks to buy into your program enough that when this was new, that our people were involved and engaged to be able to support the guys on our team. To be able to be ready for this opportunity when it did show up. We were there to meet it, and I do deserve a lot of credit for that, a lot.
“Because it’s been a 14-year journey, and had we had a different coach, a new or young coach at the time, it wouldn’t happen. There would have been no chance. So, that’s obviously been a spot of mine, a little bit of a sore spot at times, because I think that’s gone not as noticed as I would like. And obviously it’s vital.”
Brownell added that when it comes to college basketball, “any program at this level has got to have an NIL package for their players, or you can’t be successful.”
“So, it’s not just specific for Clemson,” he continued. “We’re doing our part to try to do the best we can to make sure that our players are treated as well as they can be also. Obviously there are limits in all of it. It’s not hard to figure out some of the schools that are spending the most. You can easily see. It’s just not hard to figure that out if you study our sport.”
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