Chauncey Wiggins discusses confidence as a freshman

Clemson is beginning to get some help from one of its true freshmen, with forward Chauncey Wiggins proving his mettle over the last few weeks as he’s begun to see an uptick in minutes.

In a 72-51 win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Wiggins scored a career-high 12 points. It’s all a product of hard work.

“Yeah I just try to work on off days, after, before practice, keep getting shots up,” Wiggins said after the win over Ramblin’ Wreck. “Because I know the time will come, so I just try to work every day.

“Making plays, even if it’s not just scoring, making plays, getting somebody a wide open three or a wide open dunk.”

Prior to a game against Wake Forest on Jan. 17, Wiggins had not played more than 12 minutes in a game. He got 30 minutes against Wake Forest and chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

As a result, he’s gotten 16 minutes against Virginia Tech and 18 minutes against Georgia Tech. His teammates have had quite a hefty bit of praise for him.

Brevin Galloway raves about Chauncey Wiggins’ confidence as a freshman

If there’s one thing that stands out about Wiggins to some of his teammates it’s how unflappable he’s been when introduced to new situations.

Nothing seems to phase him.

“I don’t even know. Me as a freshman, I was deer in the headlights, scared,” Brevin Galloway said, praising Wiggins and the rest of Clemson’s freshmen. “Then to see him out there, what was it, Wake Forest? First away game you got in? Knocked down like three threes.

“Them being able to step up, obviously they were very, very highly recruited coming out of high school. Well respected. So to be able to come in and make an impact off rip is beautiful. And obviously we’re going to need them down the stretch. It’s a long year and obviously older guys, we won’t have our best nights some nights, so we’re going to need the guys to come in with energy and give us some life. So they’re doing their job, and I feel like down the line they’re going to keep getting better and they’re going to make us better as a team.”

Clemson is set to return to action tonight with a 5 p.m. ET tip against Florida State. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.