What We Learned From Clemson's Home Win Over North Alabama

The Clemson men’s basketball team dominated the North Alabama Lions at Littlejohn Coliseum, winning 81-61 on Monday night.

With the Tigers back in the win column after its opening loss to Georgetown, as well as the Charleston Classic coming up this weekend, here’s what we learned in the win:

Zac Foster is as advertised

Freshman guard Zac Foster entered 2025 with a highly-anticipated season, and those beginning flashes are starting to show.

Foster’s presence was seen on the floor, scoring 14 points and adding six assists, both season-highs, in the win over the Lions, showing great skill on the other end of the floor as well. Flashy passes and leading fast breaks were followed by oohs and ahhs of the Littlejohn crowd.

The biggest play of the game occurred with only 12 seconds of the game to announce he arrived, laying a one-handed alley-oop dunk into the basket from Dillon Hunter, sending the stadium into a frenzy.

Being one of the first players off the bench in Monday’s contest, head coach Brad Brownell continues to give him chances to show his talent, and it is paying off for Clemson.

“I thought he played very well,” he said after the game. “Obviously, his speed and just ability to make a couple shots and get other guys some easy ones was outstanding, so pleased with that.”

The third-highest ranked recruit to ever play for Clemson, according to 247Sports, Foster will continue to get better with each game as the Tigers enter an important non-conference stretch of the season.

“Outstanding performance for a young player to come in with that kind of ability and to be able to just move the ball and get to places and get guys shots,” Brownell said. “I thought he was terrific.”

The Clemson bench is the X-factor

No matter who is coming off the bench for Clemson, they continue to produce, even in different lineups.

Monday night was the first time this season that Brownell shook up the lineup and the outcome still remained. Coming off of the bench for the first time, forward RJ Godfrey scored eight points in his first six minutes of the game. Jestin Porter, the other Tiger that came off the bench for the first time, added eight of his own in the win.

In the first half, the constant switching led the bench to outscore North Alabama by a margin of 29-2, leading to a 23-point lead going into the break.

The Tigers have outscored every opponent so far this season on their bench points, and that will be something that the team will look to keep doing as more difficult opponents come up as the season progresses.

Every game could see a different top performer

Clemson continues to see new players emerge with every game, or even multiple, in this case in Monday’s game.

Godfrey finished with a team-high 16, Foster added 14 and forward Carter Welling had 13 of his own. Three other players also finished with 18 points. On the flip side, other players provided important games in other stats, like forward Jake Wahlin, who finished with 11 rebounds in the win.

Similar to games previous, the win provided another reason why Clemson’s 2025-26 team is unlike other teams of Brownell’s. They seem a lot more unselfish and want to distribute the ball more, recording 18 assists against the Lions.

Even with a new look starting lineup, it’s all about who is playing well for the Clemson head coach, which could reflect these performances.

“This is a team that, you know, it can change almost every game based on who’s playing well, who practices well, what we think is a staff in terms of matchips,” Brownell said, “and we could go back to five and five at any time as well, too.”

With ball movement that fluid, that means anybody can win a game for Clemson this season, no matter how many minutes they play.

Perhaps we find out who that next player is this weekend, when Clemson heads to Charleston, South Carolina for the Charleston Classic. It will play West Virginia on Friday at 6:30 p.m.