Time to get to work: Clemson gears up for first round matchup with McNeese

It's time to get to work for the Clemson men's basketball team.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Monday, March 17 2025

CLEMSON - Time to get to work.

After 25 minutes of conversation with the media, those were the words of Brad Brownell as he exited the media room.

“We won’t sleep a lot in the next few days, but it will be exciting to get ready for them,” he said.

Clemson finally knows who they will face, and where they will play in round one of the NCAA Tournament. Will Wade and McNeese will square off with the Tigers on Thursday, as the madness of March can truly begin.

This is also Brownell’s first time making back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament during his tenure at Clemson.

For the Tigers’ leading man, an achievement like this has been in the works for a long time, dating back to the Sweet Sixteen run in 2017, falling to Kansas.

Brownell took the time to credit those working behind the scenes, saying it goes beyond the players on the court to turn a program into what Clemson has become.

“I'm proud of what we've done not just the last couple of years but really ever since the facility has been improved,” Brownell said. “Joe Swann back then made a heck of a commitment to us and obviously, Aaron Dunham and me working our tails off for seven, eight years, just trying to build our basketball support group as much as we could to really convince the administration that we could do things like courtside seating and coliseum clubs and courtside clubs and generate revenue.”

He says that it has made a tremendous impact on the floor, improving the facilities for the players to develop and attracting recruits to play in Clemson.

“People would do it to help support the facility improvements that we needed,” Brownell said. “And certainly that facility of improvements has resulted in better basketball, more consistency, and better players. So yeah, I'm very proud of all those things because it's, like I've always said, there's been a lot more work behind the scenes than just on the practice court or the recruiting trail, and it takes all of that to be successful.”

Now, with higher expectations come those responsible for not only shouldering them but also delivering on those hopes.

For Clemson, that was Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin. The duo shined in the Tigers’ Elite Eight run last year, providing a look into what next year could look like when the keys to the program were headed to them.

Certainly, they delivered.

Hunter and Schiefflelin were All-ACC selections as the Tigers produced the best regular season in program history, and now they will be looked to deliver another memorable stretch.

While Viktor Lakhin and Jaeden Zackery were celebrating their first shots at the Big Dance, Brownell looked to Hunter and Scheiffelin, knowing that pair understands what it takes.

“I think you see that in Chase and Ian, and I'm really proud of those guys for that,” Brownell said. “That's not easy. And I kind of told them, Hey guys, I told them at the beginning of the year, you guys were a massive part of our Elite 18, but there are a lot of people when they think of the Elite Eight, they think of PJ Hall first, right? And PJ earned that from giving us four great years of playing hurt a lot, competitive spirit, a will to win, and fighting for our program. And now as seniors, you and Chase, this will be kind of your legacy team, and those two damn guys have left a hell of a legacy. Twenty-seven wins, and obviously they want to do what we did in the tournament last year because of how fun it was. I mean, those are lifelong memories that that team had, and we'd like to do it with these guys, too.”

Last year’s Elite Eight run will forever live in program memory, and this team has a chance to create some special moments of their own.

As the celebration wears off of another appearance in the Big Dance, it is time to get to work.