CLEMSON – Michael Jordan once said his best skill was that he was coachable. He was a sponge and an aggressive learner.

While No. 22 Clemson is separated three decades from Jordan’s reign over the NBA, head coach Brad Brownell told media members, after Clemson’s 74-50 win over Boston College Tuesday, that he believes the principle still stands.

One of the Tigers’ (15-3, 5-0 ACC) biggest strengths this season is coachability.

“A huge part is they are coachable,” Brownell said after the Tigers picked up their eighth straight win. “And I think it starts with Dillon (Hunter) and R.J. (Godfrey), right? That example that those guys set.”

In their win over the Eagles (7-10, 0-4 ACC), Godfrey finished with 10 points, his 14th this season in double figures, while Hunter led his team with five assists and a plus-18 in the plus/minus category.

Despite Godfrey’s eight rebounds and success on both ends of the floor this season, the veteran picked up four fouls with several minutes left on the clock, and Brownell saw an opportunity for a teachable moment.

“I’m coaching every play, I don’t care what the score is,” the Clemson coach said. “I’m bringing R.J. out and we’re having a dialogue and I’m asking him questions and he’s not answering the question with the right answer or the way that I want the question answered, but it’s important enough because I don’t want him to foul out. He made a play where he made the wrong read and I want to make sure he makes the right read. I’m not going to wait until film.”

That process, Brownell said, is what has helped Godfrey excel this season.

“That’s how these guys get better and they understand that and that’s why he’s made such big strides,” he said. “I mean, man, he’s a heck of a player right now.”

The detailed coaching is not limited to Brownell. Following a season-high 25-point performance against BC, power forward Nick Davidson gave credit to assistant coach Dick Bender for his openness to help Clemson players learn the intricacies of defensive and offensive schemes.

“(Bender) is a great coach, and he does a lot of one-on-one time with film workouts,” Davidson said.  “He’s very open with our schedules. I’m all online, so my schedule’s pretty open. But guys like Carter (Welling), R.J., and Chase (Thompson), Trent (Steinour), he makes time to really get in with them, teach them, and it’s awesome to work with him.”

In order to take detailed criticism from the coaching staff, players need to maintain a level of humble confidence, according to Brownell.

“Our guys have gained confidence and gotten more comfortable with how we do things,” he said. “I think that’s a big thing, too, is they’ve just gotten more comfortable with the coaches, how we do things, our approach, being coached to detail. That’s not easy.”

The key to this coachability, according to Welling, comes down to an off-court factor — individual character.

“I think it’s just the kind of guys that we got here at Clemson. I think we recruit a certain type of person and we’re all very high character,” he said.

Whether it is an acute knack for details, personal character, a will to win, or a combination of several factors, Clemson’s coaching staff and players have catapulted themselves to a perfect start in ACC play for the third time in four years.

Still, the sledding will not get any easier for the Tigers this weekend as they host the Miami Hurricanes (15-2, 4-0 ACC) at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday. Tip is set for 2:15 p.m.