Chase Hunter's elite play defines Clemson's impressive run

One of Hunter’s most significant jumps has been his consistency as a three-point shooter.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Thursday, January 23 2025

Clemson’s winning ways continue.

The Tigers have won seven of their last eight games, and while several factors contribute to this success, one stands out above the rest.

Chase Hunter isn’t just playing the best basketball of his career. He’s playing like one of the best guards in the country.

Hunter dropped his sixth performance of 20 points or more, continuing to stack consistently great opponents in conference play. He had three performances like that all last season, and two were in the NCAA Tournament.

A significant factor in that was PJ Hall and Joseph Girard drawing much of the offensive attention, but in last March’s tournament run, Hunter was easily Clemson’s best player on the floor as they reached the Elite Eight.

The season ended in Los Angeles, but that stretch was a preview of what Hunter could do when given the keys to the offense.

Fast forward to the trenches of the 2024-25 season, and he’s shown that the small sample size of March Madness was only the beginning.

One of Hunter’s most significant jumps has been his consistency as a three-point shooter. To close the 2023 season, Hunter was a 31 percent shooter from deep, not finding the desired consistency for the Clemson offense.

This year tells an entirely different story.

The sixth-year guard is having not only his best season from deep but also the best season in the entire ACC. Hunter is currently shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range, leading the conference in that metric with flying colors.

Hunter’s play continues to skyrocket, and that certainly has been a nice boost for his confidence.

“It's definitely a confidence thing,” Hunter said. “I've been very confident in these past few games. Really, the whole year. I am just trying to ride that wave, keep putting in work, keep playing hard for these guys and make sure we keep winning games.”

Hunter has alluded to the consistent work he’s put in the gym, paired with the experience to know what works for him, as well as growing with this current roster.

Brad Brownell knows Hunter is playing at an all-time level in his career, but also credits his work and those around him who have elevated the star guard.

“I think some of it is our team,” Brownell said. “Our team has done a really good job of finding him. I think he's certainly, his shooting has improved over the course of his career dramatically and obviously he's playing with a lot of confidence. He's playing obviously like a guy that's played a lot of college basketball, and his range on his shot. He's shooting deep shots, but some of that is, he works on it. He's been working on it for a long time now and obviously here these last couple of years, that's been the thing that he's really spent more time as he's gotten better at other things, honing that part of his craft, and he's in a really good place right now and he's shooting the ball at a very high level.”

Just like Hunter’s game is coming together at the right time, Clemson continues to excel on the floor as a unit. The Tigers are 8-1 in the ACC for the second time in three years, and Hunter’s play is a big reason why.

As tournament season begins to come into focus, Clemson will need Hunter’s career year to continue for another historic run to be reached.