Hamilton: Perception and expectations now different for Clemson basketball

CHARLOTTE It was lunchtime on Oct.

10, the final day of the ACC Tipoff media event.

A boisterous man with a shiny, bald head came over to say a few loud words to Brad Brownell that echoed through the Hilton Charlotte Uptowns dining area.

The man then departed about as quickly as he arrived, leaving Brownell to sit back down and resume his lunch.

Who was that? Ian Schiefflen, a senior forward for the Clemson mens basketball team, asked.

Brownell, now in his 15th year as the Clemsons coach, paused from a plate of veggies and fish, and explained.

It was Seth Greenberg whod ambled over.

Thats the same Seth Greenberg who was a college head coach for 22 years , twice winning ACC Coach of the Year while at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies fired him in 2012, prompting him to become, fittingly enough, a talking head for ESPN.

Greenbergs one of the networks main college analysts and has spent a majority of his time with ACC-heavy coverage.

So he knows all about Clemson.

And, presumably, the Tigers should know all about him.

But the 6-8 Schieffelin defied that logic.

He quickly absorbed Brownells words and nodded before plunging a fork back into a plate of glazed salmon that had all of his attention.

It was the kind of polite nod that communicated cool or good to know or perhaps even oh, that's nice.

Otherwise, it was merely an acknowledgement to his coach for the courtesy of answering his question.

And everyone resumed their meal.

But that interaction perfectly sums up life now for Brownell and the Tigers.

Theyre getting more attention these days, for one thing.

Thats what happens when a program makes a run deep into the NCAA Tournament, as Clemson did last year.

The Tigers 24-12 season (11-9 ACC) was capped off by only the second Elite Eight appearance in school history .

I had a some folks reach out, certainly, Brownell, Clemsons all-time wins leader, said.

But it was really more when youre out on the recruiting trail.

It was We were pulling for you guys.

We loved your team, we loved how they played.

Your team was extremely fun to watch and enjoyed watching it.

Brownell stops again to acknowledge a couple of folks wanting a quick word as they walk past him.

Always affable and accessible, he makes quick chitchat before they move on.

Hamilton: Dabo's way, transfer quarterbacks sharing the same bandwagon The steady walk-and-chats drive home the point that the perception of the program is different, even if its foundation hasnt changed much since Brownell took over in 2010.

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A steady narrative going into last season was Clemson missing out on the NCAA Tournament the previous two years.

There was a belief the 2022-23 Tigers were shafted by not getting an invite.

They finished tied for third in the ACC, but any claims of being shorted were negated when they lost to Morehead State in the opening round of the NIT as that event's No.

1 seed.

Still, buried beneath all of that, the reality is Clemson has the fifth-most wins in the ACC since making the Sweet 16 in 2018; that trip ending a seven-year absence dating back to Brownells first season.

The Tigers are also one of only 22 schools to go to both a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight over the past six years.

But the situation now is different.

The program actually has some momentum collected from over the last two seasons, that one-game NIT flop out stricken from the equation.

Leaving this question: Is it more difficult to maintain that momentum, or was the real challenge getting to this point to begin with? Its going to be challenging, Brownell said.

This new world order were kind of in certainly is different.

Its now an 18-team league and its competitive as ever, if not better than it has been the past year or two.

Theres been a raising of the bar in our league and weve got to try to help that.

Hes right.

It will be rough, even if the ACCs nightly grind has been masked by all of the football-focused conference realignment .

Lots of veterans teams return with lots of veteran coaches, even if Tony Bennetts sudden departure from Virginia is jarring.

And the uncertainty getting attention on the football side with regards to the transfer portal and NIL impact basketball more than most realize.

Clemson, like any other program, is just as impacted.

The difference for the Tigers, however, is that Brownell has learned to deftly leverage the portal to fill gaps.

That much was evident last year with the addition of guard Joe Girard from Syracuse, who came in to average 15.1 points and make a team-record 105 3-pointers.

Hes gone now.

So is P.J.

Hall, arguably the greatest player in school history.

Hamilton: Kelsey learning, adapting at Louisville Brownell has brought in four transfers in an effort to make up their production and fill some other gaps.

And thats aided by guard Chase Hunter opting to return for a sixth season.

I think it's just playing with that same chip on our shoulder that we did last year, Hunter said.

We're bringing back a lot of older guys, a lot of transfer guys that played a lot of basketball and that know how to win.

They figured that out on the go last year.

Clemson was 4-6 in league play last year and on the brink of disaster before turning things around.

The final result, understandably, raised lots of eyebrows.

That jibed with a typical Brownell pattern of beating expectations; Clemson has exceeded preseason polling in 11 of his14 years as coach.

For the record, the Tigers were picked to finish fourth in this years preseason poll..

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