From Hardcourt to Gridiron, Clemson PF Turned TE Ian Schieffelin is One to Watch

As Clemson Football rounded up its first day of Fall Camp, Dabo Swinney was able to offer a lot of insights and information on the team firsthand.

One of the most interesting stories over this off-season for the Tigers has, without a doubt, been former Clemson Basketball forward Ian Schieffelin joining the team in May, which head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about in his recent presser.

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The 6-foot-7 versatile athlete was hoping for his fifth-year waiver to be granted to play an extra year of college basketball, but it wasn't looking too good for him until Swinney extended an offer for him to have a spot on the football team.

"He's gonna have a quick learning curve when he runs that swap zone and kicks out TJ Parker," Swinney said. "So yeah, he hasn't played football since the 10th grade, so it's been a while."

While the former All-ACC honoree needs to shake off a little rust, Swinney has his back. He's highly confident in Schieffelin's on-the-field abilities and how he's handled the change going from one team to another.

"This is a high-level athlete now, this is a highly competitive dude," Swinney said. "I'm really proud of him, it's been fun to just kind of watch him blend in, you go from a group of about 15 to 125 people, and it's just a lot.

"He's done great man, he's bought in, he's gotten stronger, he's really worked hard to give himself the best chance mentally to go compete."

This attitude isn't surprising to most, as Schieffelin always had a strong work ethic, which was clear even on the hardwood. Over his four-year career, he gradually developed across the board and helped lead a Clemson team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in his final two seasons, including their first Elite 8 in 44 years.

The proof was in the pudding on just how much he had grown as a player over the years, earning multiple honors, including, but not limited to, 2024 ACC Most Improved Player, 2024 All-ACC Honorable Mention, and 2025 All-ACC Second team.

Every year Schieffelin’s minutes, points, blocks, steals, and assists per game increased. He averaged 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a senior.

While he was known as "Iron Man" on the basketball court last season for playing through multiple injuries throughout the season, physicality is on a different level in the sport of football, and Swinney made that clear to the media.

"I think he'll be fine when it comes to catching the ball, running routes, I think all that stuff will come pretty quick for him. But you gotta take the physical part to him, there's definitely going to be a learning curve, no doubt about it, but I think just who he is will shorten that," Swinney concluded.

The transition from basketball to football isn’t a new concept. Hall of Fame tight ends Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez were both college basketball players.

More recently, the Denver Broncos drafted Caleb Lohner in the 2025 NFL Draft. He was a forward at Utah before playing football in 2024. He made the most of his four catches with four touchdowns for the Utes.

Swinney and Clemson are hoping to be the next to catch lightning in a bottle with a big, soft-handed target for quarterback Cade Klubnik.