Looking back at the Tigers' 2018 Sweet 16 run

When Clemson opens the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, the Tigers will do so with some players who have postseason experience.

Aamir Simms and Clyde Trapp were freshman on Clemson’s 2018 NCAA Tournament team. That year the Tigers entered the Big Dance with a 23-9 overall record and fresh off a trip to the ACC Tournament semifinals. Not a single player on that team had been to the NCAA Tournament before.

The Tigers, the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region in 2018, headed to San Diego for a Round of 64 game with No. 12 New Mexico State.

“First off, the weather out there was amazing,” remembers Simms, who is now a senior. “Two, just the camaraderie with everyone. The older guys, not acting too big for the moment or trying to act like they were better than anyone on the team. That was all our first time going, I think, so we were all kind of new to it and the experience. We were just out there having fun and playing together.

“That’s something I’m going to take and try to run with this team as well.”

At San Diego State’s Viejas Arena for the first-round game, Clemson beat the Aggies, 79-68. Shelton Mitchell had 23 points and Gabe DeVoe added 22. Simms came off the bench and contributed nine points, while Trapp logged six minutes.

The win sent the Tigers to a second-round matchup with No. 4 seed Auburn. DeVoe led all scorers with 22 points as Clemson jumped out to a 43-19 lead at the half and cruised to an 84-53 victory. The win sent the Tigers to their first Sweet 16 since 1997.

“Maybe the seniors can talk to the players about that (experience),” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who is taking the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament for the third time under his watch. “We’ve reflected back on it, the last couple of weeks, about what that experience was like and how those are life memories you’re making. You’re making it with your buddies, who you’re competing with and practicing with everyday. The opportunity to play in this tournament — it’s hard to get here. It’s way more challenging now than it’s ever been.”

Clemson’s NCAA Tournament run ended in the Sweet 16, as the Tigers ran into No. 1 seed Kansas. Clemson fell, 80-76, ending the program’s deepest postseason run in more than 20 years.

The circumstances entering this NCAA Tournament are completely different — all teams are playing in a massive bubble in Indianapolis. But the lessons learned from 2018 will carry over, especially the experiences Simms, Trapp and Brownell had in San Diego.

Having those memories will help in Clemson’s preparation for Friday night’s game. The seventh-seeded Tigers meet No. 10 seed Rutgers in the opening round of the Midwest Region.

“We’ve been working at this for a long time, it’s an ever-day, every-game approach,” Trapp said. “It’s definitely great and rewarding to get back to that tournament.”