Brad Brownell does not mess around.

When the transfer portal strikes, the head coach of the Clemson men’s basketball team strikes back.

Since the Tigers’ run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, guard Josh Beadle and forward RJ Godfrey entered their names into the transfer portal. Beadle has since committed to Boston College, while Godfrey is still going through the recruiting process.

When both players entered their names into the portal, Clemson fans were up in arms, especially with the Godfrey news. There were a few that even blamed Brownell, which was ridiculous.

But instead of being frightened over the news, Brownell and his staff went to work replacing the two players. Technically, they are still trying to find another post player to replace Godfrey.

However, this past week, Brownell did get a commitment from former Cincinnati big-man Viktor Lakhin. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound grad transfer committed to Clemson last Wednesday.

A native of Anapa, Russia, Lakhin started 24 games and played in 29 for the Bearcats this past year, while averaging 9.2 points, six rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He shot 49.8 percent from the field and totaled 23 blocked shots.

Lakhin will likely be the guy to replace First-Team All-ACC center PJ Hall.

As for replacing Beadle, the Tigers traded with Boston College, landing the Eagles’ talented guard Jaeden Zackery. A three-year starter at BC, Zackery averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 assists per game this past season.

Clemson fans should be very familiar with Zackery’s work, he ate the Tigers up twice last season. In their Jan. 13 meeting at Littlejohn Coliseum, he scored 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting and had six assists, though Clemson won the game.

Zackery and BC avenged their earlier loss to the Tigers, as he dropped in 22 points and had three assists in an upset victory over Clemson in the ACC Tournament.

Considering Beadle has been a reserve player his first two years at Clemson, it appears Brownell won in the trade with his former assistant coach Earl Grant.

But Brownell has been winning in the transfer portal for a while now. Even before it was called the transfer portal.

Do you remember Shelton Mitchell, Marcquise Reed and Elijah Thomas from Clemson’s 2018 Sweet 16 team?

They were all transfers and all three played a huge role in the Tigers’ 25-10 season that year.

Do you remember Jonahan Baehre?

The big man helped the Tigers make it to the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

In 2023, Brevin Galloway transferred to Clemson from BC, and the local product helped the Tigers post a 23-11 record and a third-place finish in the ACC.

Then, of course, there was Joe Girard (Syracuse) and Jack Clark (NC State) this past season. Both played major roles in the Tigers’ run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and 24-12 record.

With the backing of some major NIL support for Clemson basketball, Brownell has shown he is not afraid to use the transfer portal to help his team.

He does not build his team with the transfer portal. Instead, Brownell uses the portal to help fill in some key pieces on his roster. And if past experiences tell us anything, the Clemson coach is using it the right way and using it to turn Clemson into a consistent contender in men’s basketball.

Think about it this way. It is April 21, and we are still talking about Clemson basketball.

When has that ever happened?

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