Clemson head coach Brad Brownell met with the media on Wednesday afternoon in the press room of Littlejohn Coliseum.

Brownell provided an injury update on redshirt sophomore guard Ace Buckner.

Buckner had offseason shoulder surgery, and he will be out all summer, per Brownell. It will have no affect on his availability for this upcoming season.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder appeared in all 35 games in his first season on the court for the Tigers as a redshirt freshman last season. He made three starts, including two in the ACC Tournament.

Buckner averaged 8.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 2025-26, as well as 0.8 steals per contest. He finished the season shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, 31.2 percent from three and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Buckner became the second Clemson freshman guard in the last 31 seasons to average 8.0 points or more in less than 20.0 minutes per game, joining Terrence Oglesby (2007-08). Buckner’s scoring ranks sixth among Clemson freshman guards since 1995-96.

Of course, Ace is the son of Clemson legend Greg Buckner, who was a four-year starter for the Tigers from 1994-98 and was enshrined in the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Ranking fifth on the Tigers’ all-time career scoring list with 1,754 points, he averaged 14.4 points per game. He was a two-time All-ACC selection and the 1994-95 ACC Rookie of the Year. Greg played professionally for the Dallas Mavericks from 1999-02 and again in 2006-07, the Philadelphia 76ers from 2002-04, the Denver Nuggets from 2004-06, the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007-08 and the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008-09.