A second freshman on the Clemson men’s basketball team is set to redshirt.
Head coach Brad Brownell announced Wednesday that Ace Buckner will redshirt this season.
The freshman guard hasn’t appeared in any games this season due to an upper body injury. Brownell said Wednesday that Buckner had shoulder surgery and just recently got back to practicing.
“He had shoulder surgery and has just kind of gotten released here really the last week to kind of get back out in practice for the most part. So, he’s pretty close to full go,” Brownell said. “So, good to have him out there. He’s gonna be a good player one day for us.”
Buckner is the second player in Clemson’s freshman class who is redshirting, along with forward Dallas Thomas, a former four-star and top-100 national prospect.
A 6-foot-3, 170-pound native of Dallas, Texas, Bucker played prep ball at La Lumiere School in Indiana. He was rated as a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class by Rivals, which ranked him as the 25th-best point guard and No. 129 overall prospect in the country for his class.
Buckner averaged 8.8 points per game with All Ohio Red on the EYBL Circuit. He posted close to a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio through 24 games on the circuit and exploded for a 29-point performance at Peach Jam in July.
Buckner is the son of Clemson legend Greg Buckner, who played for the Tigers from 1994-98.