Dan Radakovich says he is really happy with the progress his basketball program is making under head coach Brad Brownell, despite the fact Clemson had not made the NCAA Tournament in five years and has made the NIT just once in that same span.

“Given where we are as a program moving forward, (making the NCAAs) is a goal every year. Some years we get closer than others,” Clemson’s athletic director said to The Clemson Insider. “I’m not going to talk about where Brad’s employment status is because obviously that is a big topic, but I’m really happy with the progress that our program is making. That is important to understand.

“There are a lot of things outside just the wins and losses, when you are competing in the league we compete in each and every year that allows you to see there is progress being made.”

To be fair, Radakovich was right. The Tigers did make a little bit of progress during the 2015-’16 season. They improved from 16-15 the year before to 17-14 this past season. They also went from winning eight ACC games in 2014-’15 to winning 10 this past year.

“I can’t overstate enough how night after night playing in the ACC is a grind. We have to be able to bring in the players to be able to do that. That change over there physically should allow that to happen,” he said. “I think there are some players who transferred in here, understanding that was going to be a real positive change.”

That change of course is Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson had the old facility, first built in 1969, gutted and stripped away inside and rebuilt to a more modern day facility with suites and all the amenities its ACC rivals have. The basketball program will also have a new players’ facility, coaches’ offices and practice courts.

“Next year, we will be in the new building. There will be a period of time, just like we have seen in a number of other sports where the student athletes are around the coaches a lot, where that is a real positive thing,” Radakovich said. “That’s one of the things we want to be able to look at and make sure that is assimilating correctly, everybody is in their place and is feeling comfortable in their new place.”

Last week, the Tigers’ returning players took a tour of the new basketball operations center, which is expected to be completed by September. As expected, they all liked it.

“It is going to be a different vibe associated with basketball,” Radakovich said. “It was something we had to do in order to be competitive in the ACC. We had to make that physical change.”

Does changing Littlejohn mean more victories and guaranteed NCAA Tournament appearances in the future?

Radakovich played a big role when he was the athletic director at Georgia Tech in upgrading the Yellow Jackets’ McCamish Pavilion (formerly known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum). However, Georgia Tech has not turned that into any real success.

The McCamish Pavilion, which had $50 million price tag, opened in 2012-’13 and Tech has not come close to the NCAAs. Some of that can be thrown on former head coach Brian Gregory, who was fired at the end of the season after going 76-86 in his five years in Atlanta.

“Upgrades in facilities, in rare circumstances, produce immediate results,” said Radakovich, who was responsible for hiring Gregory at Georgia Tech in 2011. “As you look at young men and young women that are making college decisions, a lot of them are made by their junior year in high school so it’s really a couple of years down the road to see how that physical change may assist the program.

“In Atlanta, Brian was doing something totally different. He lost a bunch of kids to transfer and he brought in a bunch of kids from the transfer route and they made their decision to change coaches. Each circumstance is a little different. As you look at building upgrades, even the west end zone for football, it was a couple of years before that really produced the fruit that created the foundation that we are enjoying right now.”

It’s no secret Brownell’s future success with the Tigers will be based on what First-Team All-ACC Forward Jaron Blossomgame decides to do. Yes, Brownell and his staff are excited about the future of the program thanks to incoming transfers Shelton Mitchell, Marquise Reed and Elijah Thomas. However, if Blossomgame returns the future could be next year.

Blossomgame decided last month he was going to test the waters and turned professional, but he left the door open for a return. The deadline for Blossomgame to make his final decision is May 25.

“Certainly, if Jaron makes the decision to come back that is a very different program than if he makes the decision to leave,” Radakovich said. “In some ways, what our goals and projections are for next year, is a little pre-mature to look at based on Jaron’s decision.

“We support his decision whichever way it goes because this is his career and is his livelihood, but it certainly does create a different platform with and a different platform without.”

Brownell has been here before. Two years ago, First-Team All-ACC Forward K.J. McDaniels turned pro, which pushed the program back a year or two. Brownell says the program is better equipped, this time around, to handle things if Blossomgame does indeed go pro.

This past season, Blossomgame averaged 18.7 points and 6.7 rebound per game, while shooting 78.2 percent from the foul line, 51.3 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three-point range.

“I still like to think that we are a talented enough team. We will have to make adjustments,” Brownell said. “Somebody else is going to have to emerge and have a major year because it is hard to be one of those (NCAA Tournament) kinds of teams without some sort of a star player.”

Radakovich understands the anxiousness of the fan base. He admitted the goal is to make the NCAA Tournament every year, but in his three seasons as head coach, he has yet to see Brownell return his super mega star from the previous season. He wants to be able to judge his head coach when he has all the pieces in place.

“I have only been here for three basketball seasons and I know we have not made the tournament in five years,” the Clemson athletic director said. “We had a really great run in the NIT a couple of years ago and we had a great player. But as the leading scorer, he left to pursue professional opportunities. For K.J., K.J. made a great decision, but I would really like for Brad to have his leading scorer come back one year and see how that works to be able to create that consistency within program.”

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