Brad Brownell Talks Clemson Basketball's Offensive Style for 2026-27 Season

With an offseason comes a new-look team, and that’s what Clemson basketball head coach Brad Brownell is currently working with.

He had a media availability on Wednesday, speaking about what his team could look like offensively for the 2026-27 season. Last season, his team was filled with strength inside with names like RJ Godfrey, Nick Davidson and Carter Welling making up the frontcourt.

Brownell hinted at a possible change for this team, being without Godfrey and Davidson, while Welling will miss the beginning of the season.

“We’ll still do some high-low stuff,” he said, “but we’re going to do more five-out probably than we’ve done in the past.”

That comes from the influx of shooters that Clemson brought in for its transfer portal class. That’s easily seen with Notre Dame transfer Cole Certa, averaging 16.1 points in ACC play while scoring 30 points in three games against in-conference opponents. Brownell said he wants to shoot the big shots, and that will be on display at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Another solid shooter the Tigers go through the portal was TCU’s Liutauras Lelevicius, or LT, by his head coach. Last season, he shot 38% from three for the Horned Frogs, bringing a 6-foot-7 frame that can play inside, too.

Brownell sees similarities between him and rising sophomore Chase Thompson, who played important minutes down the stretch of his first season.

“Last couple of years we’ve done it too,” Brownell said. “But some of it will be dependent upon the success of the players, like LT and Chase Thompson, are two important players for this team.

Add in the likes of returners Zac Foster and Ace Buckner, and Clemson will have plenty of firepower bringing up the ball. However, Foster remains out since tearing his ACL back in December, while Buckner underwent shoulder surgery to begin his offseason.

So, the Tigers have been practicing shorthanded.

“I think our strength of this year’s team may be our perimeter,” Brownell said. “The guards that we talked about, but it’s hard to tell with them being injured.”

Transfer forward David Fuchs is another name who has seen success shooting the three. The 6-foot-9 big man shot over 30% from deep last season and could be a weapon for Brownell as well. Pair him with Welling, who shot 29.3% last season; improvements would allow this style to work.

“I do think we’ll be able to space the floor, have more shooters on the floor than maybe last year’s consistency,” Brownell said, “and hopefully put open lanes for our speedy guards to drive.”

There’s plenty of time to figure that out, and once Buckner and Foster return to the backcourt, Brownell will be able to gauge what will be the way Clemson runs its offense to begin 2026.

“Let’s see how they do,” he said, “and that’ll determine where we play a little bit of high-low stuff more, or whether we stay with the five-out stuff.”

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