Dabo Swinney reacts to Ian Schieffelin DUI, learning experience

Clemson power forward-turned-tight end Ian Schieffelin has been the talk of preseason camp, though lately the surrounding conversation hasn’t been a particularly positive one. Schieffelin is currently facing the consequences of his Aug. 17 arrest on a DUI charge that was later dismissed in favor of a reckless driving charge.

Those consequences include serving a one-game suspension in Saturday night’s highly-anticipated season-opening home game against No. 9 LSU in what is being billed as the Battle of Death Valleys. Earlier Tuesday, Schiefflen released a statement addressing the matter and announced he’s “determined to learn from this experience.”

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney addressed Schiefflen’s consequences, including those taking place at practice, as well as how he’s approaching working his way back into the team’s good graces.

“You grow from it. It’ll be a learning experience. I think we all have a choice. We’ve all made bad decisions in our lives, but you have a choice in how you apply that. Do you learn from it? Do you grow from it? I don’t have any doubt he’ll do just that,” Swinney said during a media availability Tuesday. “But certainly there are consequences for our actions. So, I hate it for him, but he put himself in this situation and he’ll have consequences for it. And he has, I mean, every single day since that day he’s had a consequence. But he’ll miss some time too and we’ll move on from it.”

Swinney confirmed it will just be a single-game suspension and Schieffelin will be available to play Sept. 9 vs. Troy. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Schiefflen is attempting to make a successful transition from basketball to football like many have before him in what will be his final season of collegiate eligibility.

Formerly on the Clemson basketball team, Schieffelin announced his plans to join the football program back in April. He played four seasons for the Tigers’ basketball team, averaging double digits in scoring over his final two seasons. As a senior, he put up 12.4 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game. 2.7 assists per game, shot 49.5% from the floor and 34.1% from three-point range.

Now, when he officially hits the field for his first game as a Clemson football player, Schieffelin will attempt to have a similar impact on the gridiron as the fourth-ranked Tigers enter a pivotal 2025 season with serious national champion aspirations.

When Clemson started practicing with pads in fall camp, Swinney believed would tell him a lot about Schieffelin’s toughness. At that point, the coach was nothing but impressed.

“He’s trending in the right direction,” Swinney said. “I’m really pleased with him. I knew we just had to get to pads. You know he’s an athlete, you know all that stuff, but how’s he gonna take to the pads? He just looks like he’s a natural. We got some technique things to clean up — playing a little lower and stuff like that — but he’s physical.

“It just comes natural to him. He’s willing, he’s not afraid and he’s really improved. He’s getting better every day. I’m very pleased with his progress.”

— On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.