Coming into the 2013-2014 season a bit on the hot seat, Brad Brownell pulled together a strong performance from his Clemson Tigers to just miss the NCAA Tournament. A 23-13 record with an admirable 10-8 ACC record is normally enough to earn a bid, but after the disappointment of missing out, Clemson must regroup. Losing first team All-ACC performer and Defensive Player of the Year K.J. McDaniels is irreplaceable on both ends of floor. Brownell will hope to make up for the loss of his star with an experienced roster and a few talented newcomers. The minimum goal for the Tigers will be to reach postseason play of any sort, with the ultimate goal of course being a bid to The Big Dance.
Backcourt
Point guard Rod Hall wins this year’s award for being the player that has seemingly been in college ten years. That said, he brings a steady, if unspectacular, hand as the guide for Brownell’s squad. Hall took his per game scoring to 9.7 points and produced a solid 4 assists per contest as junior. Without McDaniels around, Hall will be needed to increase his scoring load. At the off guard spot, senior Damarcus Harrison and junior Jordan Roper should continue to share time. The Tigers were not sure if they would get Harrison (a former BYU transfer) back after he considered a Mormon mission, but they will welcome his 7.8 points per game and 83.6% free throw shooting back with open arms. Roper is the slightly more explosive alternative, but had almost identical numbers as Harrison. Filling McDaniels’ spot in the lineup will be the ultimate challenge, but the Tigers have a rang of options. Harrison could play small forward as Roper plays at guard, or one of sophomore Austin Ajukwa, freshman Donte Grantham, or freshman Gabe DeVoe could play at the 3. Ajukwa did not play much last season, but at 6’6” has the size necessary to fill in. Grantham is a steal of a recruit for Clemson, as they beat out Michigan and West Virginia for his services. At 6’8” 205 lbs, he would give the Tigers a big lineup. DeVoe is better suited at shooting guard and is a serious perimeter threat. Redshirt freshman Patrick Rooks was an exciting addition two years ago but had to sit out due to injury. Rooks should complement DeVoe as an outside threat.
Frontcourt
Perhaps the biggest struggle for Clemson last season was an inability to score in the post. The Tigers are banking on improvements from returning starters Landry Nnoko and Jaron Blossomgame as well as increased contributions from reserves. Nnoko made major strides as a sophomore, providing 6.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. At 6’10”, if he sees strides again, Nnoko could find himself on the NBA radar. Blossomgame will likely start at power forward, but is a tad undersized at 6’7” 215 lbs. In certain situations, he could play on the wing while Grantham or junior Josh Smith played in the post. Smith has been somewhat of a disappointment in his first two years, but is a valuable bench player, averaging 2.1 rebounds per 10 minutes of action as a sophomore. 6’10” Sidy Djitte will back up Nnoko at center and provides some of the same skills as the junior.
| Projected Starters |
|---|
| Rod Hall |
| Jordan Roper |
| Damarcus Harrison |
| Jaron Blossomgame |
| Landry Nnoko |
Schedule
Clemson will be able to ease into ACC play with a competitive, but not overly daunting, non-conference schedule. The Tigers will face the usual number of low-majors mixed in with games against Rutgers, Arkansas, Auburn, and South Carolina. They will also play in the Paradise Jam against Gardner-Webb, one of Seton Hall or Nevada, and then LSU or a mid-major squad. The Tigers face each team in the ACC once as well as an extra game against each of Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Notre Dame.
Prediction
While there will likely be a drop-off from last season due to the loss of a star like McDaniels, an experienced backcourt could help the Tigers reach the postseason again. If Nnoko continues to improve at a similar rate and one of the freshmen (particularly Grantham) emerges, Clemson could emerge as a bubble tournament team. In all likelihood, they finish over .500 and earn a bid to the NIT. If the Tigers can achieve this and finish 9-9 in the ACC, it will have been a successful season for Brad Brownell and should secure his job for another year.
by Matt Purdy @UMWolfpack87
Fantasy Player to Watch
The fantasy options for Clemson will be fascinating to watch. Unless a guy like Donte Grantham makes a big splash for Clemson, I'd expect a fairly balanced attack for the Tigers. Landry Nnoko and Rod Hall are the best bets to put up fantasy points for Clemson.
Projected Statistics (Returning Players Only)
Explanation of Statistic Projections
| Name | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Roper | 11.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 87 |
| Rod Hall | 9.7 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 78 |
| Landry Nnoko | 7.6 | 1.0 | 5.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 83 |
| Damarcus Harrison | 7.1 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 85 |
| Jaron Blossomgame | 5.9 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 86 |
| Austin Ajukwa | 5.8 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 95 |
| Sidy Djitte | 5.8 | 0.3 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 90 |
| Josh Smith | 3.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 93 |
Last Year's Player Statistics
| Clemson | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | GP | Mins | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| KJ McDaniels | 36 | 33.7 | 17.1 | 1.6 | 7.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 46.0 | 30.4 | 84.2 | |
| Rod Hall | 36 | 33.2 | 9.7 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 43.3 | 32.8 | 75.7 | |
| Damarcus Harrison | 36 | 21.8 | 7.8 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 38.9 | 35.0 | 83.6 | |
| Jordan Roper | 35 | 19.3 | 7.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 40.6 | 32.0 | 81.7 | |
| Landry Nnoko | 35 | 28.1 | 6.5 | 0.5 | 6.2 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 54.8 | 0.0 | 58.3 | |
| Jaron Blossomgame | 33 | 23.5 | 4.9 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 39.5 | 20.0 | 59.6 | |
| Adonis Filer | 35 | 14.7 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 33.3 | 29.7 | 79.4 | |
| Sidy Djitte | 34 | 8.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 41.9 | 0.0 | 16.7 | |
| Ibrahim Djambo | 32 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 31.8 | 23.8 | 66.7 | |
| Josh Smith | 30 | 10.0 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35.2 | 0.0 | 50.0 | |
| Austin Ajukwa | 25 | 7.6 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 40.0 | 42.9 | 60.0 | |
| Devin Coleman | 10 | 11.0 | 5.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 46.3 | 42.9 | 87.5 | |
| Carson Fields | 10 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Patrick Rooks | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
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