CLEMSON – In coaching circles, the phrase “know your personnel,” or “KYP” is frequently dished in press conferences like a well-placed bounce pass. Like a perfectly-timed pass sets up an easy layup, knowing a team’s personnel allows coaches to put players in positions to succeed.

The phrase, which means the ability to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a team and prepare accordingly, is crucial in building rosters and rotations. Last season, head coach Brad Brownell and his staff knew their personnel long before the first ball was ever tipped off.

At guard, you had Chase Hunter, a sixth-year sharpshooter who Clemson fans and rivals were very familiar with after he diced through higher-seeded Arizona and Baylor in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. His 2024 campaign included 77 made three-pointers on 40 percent shooting and an All-ACC First Team honor.

“Chase Hunter had a phenomenal year shooting the basketball,” Brownell said in a preseason press conference in October. “I don’t know how many threes he ended up with, but his development as a three-point shooter was really remarkable.”

Jaeden Zackery was new to the Tigers, but was familiar to Brownell after beating Clemson as a guard at Boston College the previous year. Every fan donning a “schieff,” hat in Littlejohn Coliseum knew what to expect from big-man Ian Schieffelin, after he notched over 800 rebounds in his four years as a Tiger and earned second-team All-ACC honors.

Everyone wearing “Grit After Dark” t-shirts, “schieff hats,” or a best-selling Hunter jersey knew what to expect when walking into a game in Littlejohn Coliseum last year.

Ahead of this season however, fans and coaches alike had a harder time knowing the personnel– the strengths and weaknesses– of the 2025-2026 Tigers basketball team. 

Sure, Dillon Hunter, the younger brother of Chase and a “glue guy” for the team last year returned for a fourth year, as did forward R.J. Godfrey after a year playing at Georgia. But outside of two Clemson veterans, the Tigers have a completely new look this year, with five transfers and three true freshmen, along with two redshirts.

Ahead of the season, Brownell was clear that the tempo and rotations of this fresh team would be different.

“We’re going to get up and down the floor more,” he said at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte. “I think we’re going to extend our defense, try to be a bit more aggressive, play with high hands and great activity and energy. And I think this could be a group that we play ten guys double figure minutes.”

Through five games this season, Brownell’s stance has stayed true. The Tigers currently have exactly ten players averaging double-digit minutes, with Nevada transfer leading the charge with 23.2 minutes per game, followed by combo forward/guard Jake Wahlin sitting right at 23 minutes.

Hunter and Godfrey have notched around 22 minutes, while true freshman Zac Foster has played 20 minutes per game, increasing time throughout the young season. 

In the first four games, Brownell employed an AAU-style “platoon,” rotation, subbing out all five starters at a time for the second unit, two groups that were used to playing with each other from practice scrimmages.

“The second group plays very well against the starters most of the time, and so we don’t feel like there’s a major drop-off,” Brownell said. “That’s not to disparage the guys that are starting right now.”

The initial starters for the first four games were Hunter and transfer Jestin Porter at guard, and Wahlin, Godfrey, and Davidson as the post players. After a 79-74 loss at Georgetown last week, however, Brownell learned a little more about his personnel and made adjustments.

Against North Alabama on Monday, Hunter, Wahlin, and Davidson all got the start, but redshirt freshman Ace Buckner and transfer Carter Welling saw the hardwood ahead of Godfrey and Porter.

Instead of subbing out all five starters, Brownell brought in three new players, including Godfrey and Porter, with 17:33 to play in the first period.

“I knew that we’re not married to this is our five and this is our second five,” Brownell said after a 81-61 win over the Lions. “This is a team that can change almost every game. “It could be based on who’s playing well, who practices well, what we think as a staff in terms of matchups. And we could go back to five and five at any time as well too.”

For Godfrey, who notched the third double-double of his career against Morehead State last week and leads the Tigers in rebounds, the move to coming off of the bench made sense.

“I just wanted to say laser focused,” the Suwanee, Ga., native said. “Starting to me really

isn’t like (a big deal), I’m still going to play. So, I think it was a little bit better just, you know, seeing how the pace of the game went,  just watching it prior than, having to react to it.”

Brownell thought that having his veteran, who finished with a team-high 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists, provided a spark in the new role.

“(Godfrey) was terrific tonight,” he said. “I thought he was really ready to play, and bouncy, and finished, and played with great pace, and did a little bit of everything: scored, rebounded,

assisted, energy. Loved it. So, no surprise.”

Brownell, Godfrey, and the Tigers will have their next chance to know and utilize their personnel in a new way Friday, when the Tigers will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers (5-0) at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and coverage will be shown on ESPN.