Clemson Basketball Roster Coming to Form For 2026-27 Season

It’s been a month since Clemson men’s basketball concluded its season on the hardwood, but head coach Brad Brownell already has another competitive team going into next season.

Wednesday marked the final day for players to enter the transfer portal, while the current ones in the pool still have time to choose their next schools if they haven’t done so already. That menas the Tigers will retain everybody except one player, Jake Wahlin, while returning the other seven eligible players.

That’s been the key for college basketball programs across the country: retention. Sometimes, the best moves that these programs make are the ones that are already within the roster. Clemson had that with key guards Ace Buckner and Zac Foster, who are expected to see a much higher role next season.

In the frontcourt, Carter Welling announced his return earlier this week. Despite recovering from a torn ACL that should have him out at the beginning of the season, he was Clemson’s best shot blocker last season.

Three players came from Brownell’s recruiting efforts: guard Cole Certa, forward Dylan Faulkner and wing Liutauras Lelevicius. Two roster spots remain to be filled, meaning that the Tigers’ work might not be done just yet.

So, if the work’s not done just yet, what still needs to be done?

The only other spots that could see some new faces would be a player in the guard room and in the frontcourt. While Buckner and Foster are expected to break out next season in an elevated role, Brownell has always gone for a transfer guard that brings experience to the table.

While Certa could fill that role, we’ve typically seen a player with one year of eligibility remaining. Look no further than Brevin Galloway, Jaeden Zackery, Joseph Girard III and Jestin Porter from years past. That could happen again with one of the final roster spots if Brownell wants more experience.

Depth is more of an issue at the frontcourt, which should see Welling sidelined for a chunk of time. While Faulkner is the veteran in the room, players like Chase Thompson, Trent Steinour and true freshman Will Stevens mean that Brownell could add a little more experience at that spot too.

Names like San Francisco big man David Fuchs have been mentioned, but no official commitment has been listed yet.

Not only did changes occur on the roster side, but on the coaching side as well. Brownell lost every assistant that he had and his general manager, Lucas McKay. Because of this, there was plenty of effort on the coaching front to fill those spots.

That’s what he did, bringing in Chris Harriman, Chris Hollender, Andre Morgan and Chad Warner. In the general manager spot, Brownell added Sanford’s Tyler Murray for a local pickup.

Clemson has been a team to always do better than its preseason expectation, and that will be the goal once again in 2026-27. Compared to last season, Brownell has the retention, the spark in the backcourt and the valuable pickups to be able to compete for the program’s fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

But there’s still work to be done. It is only April, after all.

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