Brad Brownell comments on Clemson being locked out of locker room vs. Louisville

Clemson fell to Louisville in the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday, but the contest wasn’t without controversy. When Brad Brownell tried to motivate his team at halftime, they ran into some trouble — the Tigers were locked out of the locker room at the Spectrum Center.

In response, Brownell was forced to improvise. His team gathered in the hallway, holding an impromptu halftime session without a whiteboard in sight. Then, Clemson looked like they were in a funk when the second half began, allowing Louisville to go on a 10-6 run. In the end, the Tigers lost by three.

What could’ve been was certainly going through Brownell’s mind after the game. During his postgame press conference, he explained this was a first for him: “No, not at this level,” the Clemson leader stated, regarding whether he’s been locked out of the locker room at halftime before. “It’s disappointing, obviously.”

Alas, the Tigers have enjoyed a wonderful season, and they still have the NCAA Tournament to look forward to. However, the way their run in the ACC Tournament came to a close stings. They’ll certainly make sure their locker room stays open against whoever they’re matched-up with next week.

The loss to Louisville was Clemson’s first since they fell to Georgia Tech in triple-overtime on Feb. 4. They can make a run in the NCAA Tournament, and maybe the extra day of rest will do the Tigers well, even if they would’ve preferred a chance to be crowned ACC champions for the first time ever.

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Aside from the drama pertaining towards Clemson’s locker room, the big storyline in Charlotte has to do with Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg. On Friday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Flagg is out for the remainder of the ACC Tournament.

Flagg sprained his ankle in Duke’s win over Georgia Tech on Thursday and didn’t play in the team’s win over North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Duke almost missed out on competing in its conference championship game.

Tthe Blue Devils were just a play away from giving up a 24-point lead to the Tar Heels on Friday. However, the Blue Devils caught a stroke of luck when UNC forward Jae’Lyn Withers committed a lane violation on a potentially game-tying free-throw attempt.

The officials awarded Duke the ball and freshman Kon Kneuppel iced the game with two free throws. Although Flagg wasn’t able to contribute on the floor, he brought no shortage of energy to the sidelines, cheering on his teammates every moment of the game. 

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this article.