A milestone met, a team unresolved
CLEMSON — Brad Brownell picked up his 300th win as Clemson’s head coach on Saturday inside Littlejohn Coliseum.
That milestone matters. Only 10 ACC coaches have reached 300 wins at a single school, and Brownell is now firmly in that company.
But if you were in the building, this didn’t feel like a celebration.
It was more exhaling than champagne.
Clemson’s – narrow – win over Mercer looked nothing like what you expect from a buy game in December. The Bears hung around for 35 of the 40 minutes, and the Tigers never quite shook them.
The reaction afterward wasn’t pride so much as relief.
That’s the through line of this early season: Clemson is good, but it isn’t settled.
Start with the obvious: This is the most dramatic roster turnover of the Brownell era.
Seven players from last season are gone, leaving Dillon Hunter as the only rotation holdover.
Brownell and his staff rebuilt through the portal, adding Nick Davidson, Carter Welling, RJ Godfrey, Jake Wahlin, Butta Johnson and Jestin Porter, while layering in a four-man freshman class led by Zac Foster.
If some of the names still feel unfamiliar, that’s not just a fan thing.
Coaches don’t fully know this group yet either. Brownell has been consistent about that point, and it’s showing up late in games.
For the last several seasons, Clemson knew exactly where to go when things tightened.
There was Chase Hunter. There was Ian Schieffelin. There was Viktor Lakhin. Before that, it was P.J. Hall or Hunter Tyson. Roles were defined. Lineups were settled.
This team doesn’t have that luxury yet.
That uncertainty has followed Clemson all season, starting back at Georgetown, the first true test on the schedule. In a hostile environment, the Tigers looked like what they were: a group playing its first meaningful minutes together.
Fast forward to Alabama and BYU, and the pattern repeats.
Against Alabama, Clemson fell into an early hole, settled down in the second half and erased a 19-point deficit to take a late lead — only to falter in closing time.
Against BYU, Clemson went toe-to-toe with a top-10 team, ripped off a 21-0 run and still walked off the floor empty-handed.
Good teams do that. Great teams finish it.
Brownell didn’t shy away from that reality after BYU.
“We’ve had different lineups in different games,” he said. “I don’t think we have five guys that have clearly separated themselves to like these are the guys that always need to be in at the end. … When you have so much turnover like we do and so many new players, that’s a big part of this.”
That’s the crux of it. Clemson doesn’t have a go-to lineup, and it doesn’t have a go-to guy.
RJ Godfrey is the closest thing to one, but that creates its own issues. If everyone in the building knows he’s the answer, opponents do too.
That puts pressure on the guards to consistently initiate offense and deliver the ball in the right spots.
Jestin Porter looked like that guard earlier in the season, notably against West Virginia and Georgia. In those wins, he was decisive, confident and shot the ball well.
Against Alabama, he scored four points in 16 minutes. Against BYU, he had 14 in the first half but just three after the break.
Dillon Hunter continues to grow as a shooter and organizer, but he isn’t wired to be a late-clock bucket-getter. That’s not a flaw, it’s just a role definition that limits options late.
Which brings the conversation to Zac Foster.
The true freshman is clearly talented.
He scored 12 against Alabama and 11 against Georgia, and he impacts games even when the shots aren’t falling. He rebounds. He passes. He isn’t afraid of the moment.
He also looks like a freshman.
Against BYU, Foster had one point and spent much of the second half on the bench after a stretch of rushed shots and turnovers. There are still possessions where he plays at high school speed instead of ACC pace.
That’s normal development, not an indictment.
Right now, he’s volatile. When it’s good, it’s very good. When it’s not, it can snowball. Long-term, he’s going to be special. In the short term, he can’t be the answer every time Clemson needs a bucket.
All of this explains why the Mercer game felt the way it did.
Clemson won, but it didn’t resolve anything. It didn’t clarify rotations or establish a closing identity. It simply added another data point.
Brownell knows that the answers aren’t finalized, but he has acknowledged that the understanding of the roster is improving.
“I feel like we have a little better feel of our personnel,” he said. “We certainly know a lot more now heading into December than we did in November.”
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That knowledge will be tested quickly. ACC play demands execution late, not just competitiveness.
Close games won’t be moral victories anymore.
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Brownell’s 300th win shouldn’t be dismissed because it came on an uneasy afternoon against Mercer. It came with a team still learning who it is. He’s earned equity. He’s rebuilt before. And this season was never going to look clean in December.
The celebration can wait. The process can’t.
