Clemson had a historic season on the basketball court last year after advancing to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history. Making an improbable NCAA Tournament run after entering the field as a No. 6 seed in the West Region.
Success always has a positive impact on recruiting, which the Tigers can now take advantage of this offseason as they look to maintain their winning ways. Which head coach Brad Brownell spoke about in a recent press conference.
“It’s helped some, there’s no question that it’s helped,” Brownell said. “With recent success, teams are more familiar with you from a standpoint of hey, yeah we just watched you play. It’s not the end all be all though.”
The rise of NIL and the transfer portal have had a strong impact on recruiting across all college sports, and none more than college basketball and football. Adding to the many factors that already go into the minutia in trying to sign high school and transfer college athletes to a program.
“Everybody’s going to study their situation and there’s so many factors involved in transfers. Winning is part of it, playing time, NIL, facilities, a chance to play at the next level, academics gets in there eventually depending on the age of the kid,” Brownell smiled and said. “But it certainly has helped.”
Brownell has rattled off two straight 20+ win seasons, representing the fifth and sixth times he’s done so during his 14 seasons with the Tigers. And that paired with recent postseason success has definitely put Clemson’s basketball program in rarefied air in recent history despite being a little bit more under the radar nationally.
“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback and people that have followed us, and when you start to dig in and when you have Zoom conversations with folks and you start putting recent success slides up there and you start matching it with some other people, folks are surprised that we’ve done as well as we have,” Brownell explained.
“When you start adding the wins and now put a Sweet Sixteen, and an Elite 8, another tournament run just in the last seven years, you’re starting to separate yourself from a lot of folks and people that you would be surprised.”
There’s no doubt that Brownell and the Tigers have surprised many in the college basketball landscape as of late. And building on their recent success through the recruiting trail could lead to Clemson becoming more of a mainstay next season and beyond moving forward.
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