The national media is sleeping on Clemson basketball again, which is a bet that hasn’t aged well for anyone who’s tried it under Brad Brownell.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello rolled out his way-too-early top 25, and it’s stocked with the names you’d expect. Out of the ACC, Louisville, Virginia, Miami and North Carolina got the preseason love. Clemson didn’t make the cut.
For a program that’s been as steady as any in the league over the last four years, that’s the kind of slight the Tigers tend to feed on. Preseason lists don’t mean much once the ball actually goes up, and Clemson has made a habit of living in the underdog role — a top-six ACC finish in each of the past four seasons, three NCAA Tournament berths, the 2024 Elite Eight run, and a two-win 2026 postseason. The doubters keep learning the hard way.
Now, with a reloaded roster heading into 2026-27, the Tigers have the pieces to make the snub look silly.
A strong core comes back
It starts with a backcourt that’s grown up inside the program. Brownell returns redshirt sophomore Ace Buckner and sophomore Zac Foster — two guards with more perimeter juice than last year’s group had. If either one steps up as a primary scorer, an All-ACC nod is well within reach.
Up front, Chase Thompson returns after a year of lessons and should show a more polished game. He’ll have help from Trent Steinour, in line for a bigger role in year two, and Dallas Thomas, who was Clemson’s best three-point shooter a season ago — the kind of floor-spacer that gives defenses fits.
And while big man Carter Welling rehabs his knee with an eye on a January return, right in time for the heart of ACC play, the frontcourt has the depth to hold the fort until he’s back.
Reinforcements from the portal and the freshman class
To smooth out the scoring droughts that bit them at times last year, Brownell hit the portal hard:
- Cole Certa (Notre Dame): a sharpshooting wing who dropped multiple 30-point games in conference play last February.
- Liutauras Lelevicius (TCU): a physical 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward who closed his Big 12 run with five double-digit scoring nights over his final seven games.
- David Fuchs (San Francisco) and Dylan Faulkner (Samford): a pair of all-conference bigs who bring immediate size and rebounding while Welling heals.
The class doesn’t stop with transfers, either. Freshmen Harris Reynolds, Amare James and Will Stevens all arrive with upside, and if there’s a pattern to Brownell’s best teams, it’s depth. This group has plenty of it.
The ACC is a grind every year, but writing off Clemson before tip-off has been a losing move for a while now. Brownell’s teams make a habit of proving the projections wrong once winter hits, and this roster looks built to do it again.
