2019–20 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2019–20
Team:Clemson Tigers
Conference:Atlantic Coast Conference
Short Conf:ACC
Record:16–15
Conf Record:9–11
Hc Year:10th
Asst Coach1:Antonio Reynolds-Dean (3rd season)
Asst Coach2:Dick Bender (4th season)
Asst Coach3:Anthony Goins (1st season)

The 2019–20 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team represented Clemson University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers were led by tenth-year head coach Brad Brownell and played their home games at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

On January 11, 2020, Clemson defeated North Carolina 79–76 in overtime to win their first ever game in Chapel Hill in program history. Entering the game, the Tar Heels had been 59–0 at home against the Tigers, which was an NCAA record for longest win streak by one team at home versus one opponent.[1]

The Tigers finished the season 16–15, and 9–11 in ACC play. The team was scheduled to play Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[3]

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2018–19 season 20–14, 9–9 in ACC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the ACC tournament to NC State. They received an at-large bid to the NIT where they defeated Wright State before losing to Wichita State in the second round.

Offseason

Coaching changes

Clemson fired assistant coach Steve Smith, for comments made on FBI wire tap in relation to the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal.[4] As a replacement, Clemson hired Anthony Goins.[5]

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
2 G 6'3" 189 Senior Graduated
Lyles Davis 3 G 5'11" 160 Senior Walk-on; graduated
Shelton Mitchell 4 G 6'3" 194 Senior Graduated
14 F 6'9" 237 Senior Graduated
Malik William 20 F 6'8" 226 Sophomore Transferred to Southern Illinois
Anthony Oliver II 21 G 6'5" 180 Sophomore Mid season transferred to Old Dominion
Javan White 35 F 6'10" 230 GS Senior Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Nick Honor 4 G 5'10" 190 Sophomore Transferred from Fordham. Under NCAA transfer rules, Honor will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
Curran Scott 10 G 6'4" 208 Senior Transferred from Tulsa. Will be eligible to play immediately since Scott graduated from Tulsa.
13 G/F 6'7" 223 Senior Transferred from Alabama. Will be eligible to play immediately since Mack graduated from Alabama.
Khavon Moore 21 F 6'7" 215 Sophomore Transferred from Texas Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Moore will have to sit out the 2019–20 season, but was granted a waiver to play immediately.[6]

World University Games

See main article: Basketball at the 2019 Summer Universiade.

On August 15, 2018 it was announced that Clemson would represent Team USA in men's basketball at the 2019 Summer Universiade (World University Games) in Naples, Italy.[7] The Tigers competed from July 3–11, 2019 in a 16 team, 4 pool qualification followed by two 8 team brackets - one to determine 1st-8th place, the second determining 9th-16th place.

Clemson, as Team USA, was placed in Pool C with China, Finland, and Ukraine. The Tigers would go 3–0 in pool play to qualify for the 1st-8th classification bracket. Clemson would then proceed to go 3–0 in the main bracket to go undefeated for the tournament and capture the gold medal, giving the United States its 15th gold medal in men's basketball at the event.[8]

Schedule and results

Source:[9] |-!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=|ACC Men's tournament

Rankings

See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: North Carolina vs. Clemson score: Tigers win at UNC for first time in 60 game series dating back to 1926. CBS Sports. 11 January 2020.
  2. Web site: Statement from ACC on Men's Basketball Tournament . theacc.com . Atlantic Coast Conference . 12 March 2020.
  3. Web site: NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200312202043/http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/ncaa-cancels-remaining-winter-and-spring-championships . 2020-03-12 .
  4. Web site: Clemson fires Steve Smith, the basketball coach who tarnished football program. postandcourier.com. The Post and Courier. Gene. Sapakoff. May 3, 2019. October 22, 2019.
  5. Web site: Brownell Hires Anthony Goins as Assistant Coach. clemsontigers.com. Clemson University. June 11, 2019. October 22, 2019.
  6. Web site: Clemson receives waiver for former top 60 hoops recruit to play this season. Charlotte Observer. Matt. Connolly. October 30, 2019. October 30, 2019.
  7. Web site: Clemson basketball to play for US in World University Games. USA Today. 11 January 2020.
  8. Web site: U.S. Captures World University Games Gold Medal. Clemson University Athletics. 11 January 2020.
  9. Web site: 2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule . Clemson Athletic Department . October 17, 2019 .