What will it take for the Clemson women’s basketball program to compete with rival South Carolina?

Shawn Poppie knows that is no small task. He also knows it will be a long process.

Poppie, Clemson’s new women’s basketball head coach, spoke exclusively with The Clemson Insider this week at the ACC’s Spring Meetings in Amelia Island, Fla.

The former Chattanooga head coach spoke about his approach to the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry and trying to build the Tigers’ program up to a place where it can be competitive with the Gamecocks.

Under head coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina went 38-0 this past season en route to its third national championship since 2017 and second in the last three years, during which the Gamecocks have compiled a 109-3 record.

“She’s done an unbelievable job, right? Everyone’s chasing – not just Clemson, everyone in the country is chasing what she’s built down in Columbia,” said Poppie, who was hired in March to replace Amanda Butler.

“She does an unbelievable job, and I think for us, we’ve got to be the best version of Clemson. I think if you get caught in comparing yourself – the reality is, I’ve been here 30 days. Do we want to eventually become South Carolina? Absolutely. But we also know it’s a process, and I think that you get caught up sometimes too much in comparing.”

Poppie, the 2023-’24 Southern Conference Coach of the Year, joined Clemson from Chattanooga, where he posted a 48-18 record in his two seasons with the Mocs, including 28 wins this past season en route to Chattanooga’s second-consecutive Southern Conference championship.

The 39-year-old also spent six seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Virginia Tech, where he helped lead the Hokies’ turnaround to a top-10 national program, and also spent time at Furman as an assistant coach.

Poppie is embracing the role of being the underdog in the Palmetto State rivalry and having a foe to chase after in the Gamecocks.

“There’s a rivalry that goes on that you don’t like those people in the other uniform, and I get it,” he said. “So, it hits a little bit harder, yes, because our rival has won a national championship and their last regular season loss is like three seasons ago. It’s been very, very special, and I think sometimes, though, being the underdog is a lot of fun. We’ve got someone to go catch.

“We know there’s a long road ahead of us, and we’re going to make Clemson proud at the end of the day. That’s our end-all, be-all goal. The product we put on the court, you’re going to be proud of, and my hopes are we just catch them a little sooner than later.”

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