CHARLOTTE — Brad Brownell readily admits his team is far from a finished product, but he really likes the potential of this Clemson basketball team.

First things first, though, is that the Tigers need to get healthy. Both Carter Welling and Zac Foster are still trying to get back from ACL injuries suffered last season. Whether either is ready for the start of the season, which is less than a month away, is yet to be determined. Foster is probably closer to being back than Welling, seeing as his knee was surgically repaired a few months before Welling’s.

Ace Buckner also missed a chunk of summer workouts, including the exhibition games the team played in Italy, although he is expected to be ready in time for the season opener. Trent Steinhour has also been injured.

Once Brownell gets everyone back and the Tigers are at full strength, the longtime head coach firmly believes the pieces are there for Clemson to have a really good season. Brownell actually mentioned winning an ACC Championship, something the program has never done.

“If that all comes together, we have a chance to be a pretty good team,” Brownell said at the ACC Tipoff. “There are still a lot of question marks, and that is ok. It is still October. We are not supposed to have all the answers yet. But I like our talent, I like the guys that we have and I think we can be successful.

“Still want to try to win an ACC championship. That’s the goal,” Brownell said. “Hope to do it with the ’26-’27 Tigers.”

During his first year with the Tigers, Welling appeared in 32 games, including 24 starts. Welling averaged 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals per contest while shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 29.3 percent from three and 70.1 percent from the foul line.

Just the mention of winning the ACC Tournament brought a huge smile to the 6-foot-11, 240-pound big man’s face.

“To hang a banner, that would be awesome,” Welling said. “For the years I would have played here, to have a legacy here, I think that would be special.”

Buckner knows exactly what hanging that banner would mean for the program. His father, Greg Buckner, was on some of the better Clemson teams of all time, helping guide the Tigers to three NCAA Tournaments during his four-year career (1994-98), including a Sweet 16 appearance in 1997.

Despite all the success the elder Buckner had, none of those teams were able to win an ACC Championship, and for Ace, that is certainly one of his top goals coming into the season.

“I have been talking about that all day,” Buckner said. “It is written on my whiteboard in my house. Nobody has done that. We do something like that, and our names are in Clemson history forever. When you talk about ACC Championships at Clemson, you’d have to talk about the first team that did it. That is one thing I want. Bad.”

– Photo courtesy of Nell Redmond/ACC Communications