Brad Brownell Gives Update on Dillon Hunter’s Eligibility Uncertainty

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clemson guard Dillon Hunter can practice and attend classes, but he still isn’t eligible to play, and head coach Brad Brownell says the Tigers will have hard decisions to make over the next couple of weeks.

Speaking to the media at ACC Tipoff, Brownell detailed what Hunter’s been able to do while his status remains unresolved.

“He can practice every day, and he’s doing it. He’s going to school. He’s doing all those things, but you know, as of right now, he’s still not eligible by the NCAA because of the judicial process,” Brownell said. “But you know, he’s working on that, he and his lawyers. It’s crazy. This is crazy.”

Hunter’s eligibility is on hold after a Georgia appellate court granted the NCAA a stay of the ruling that gave him a fifth season, while the NCAA’s appeal moves through the courts. Brownell still doesn’t know if there’s a cut-off yet and says he’s “tried not to go there,” but decisions need to be made soon, by both himself and the courts.

“We’re going to have some hard decisions to make. Just, I mean, a little bit here over the next couple of weeks,” he continued. “So, do we have him play in exhibitions and scrimmages and those kinds of things, or do we, you know, not use reps that he’s already an experienced player? Maybe we don’t do that. I don’t know. I got to look at it, you know, kind of moving forward.”

Hunter was shut out of the NCAA’s new “5-in-5” eligibility framework along with the rest of the high school class of 2022. He originally planned to head overseas and play professionally in Germany, but that changed when a federal judge in Colorado ruled that athletes from his respective class who had exhausted their four years of eligibility were entitled to a fifth year.

He entered the transfer portal the next day, and within that same week, a Georgia judge granted him and more than 30 other plaintiffs an extra season, leading him to rejoin the Tigers.

That injunction didn’t last long, though, as the NCAA appealed the Georgia ruling, making him ineligible yet again.

For Brownell and his team, the situation has become more of an obstacle than anything else, given that a player in eligibility limbo is taking reps from others who will, without a doubt, be playing this year. For now, it’s manageable, as projected starting guard Zac Foster is still recovering from his ACL tear, but as mentioned, plans need to be organized sooner rather than later.

“Certainly, we’re anxious to know one way or the other because he’s taking reps of some guys that, you know, but right now with Zach not being all the time, it’s fine,” he finished. “But we got to have plans here, as a coach, we got to get organized.”

As it stands, Clemson has 14 of its 15 roster spots filled, with the last one being held open for Hunter.

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