Brownell had harsh words for those implicated by FBI two years ago--now they may come back to bite him

Clemson basketball is in the midst of a whirl-wind of speculation after an FBI wiretap of assistant coach Steve Smith showed that the program intended to pay former Duke basketball star Zion Williamson for his services.

Clemson basketball is in the midst of a whirl-wind of speculation after an FBI wiretap of assistant coach Steve Smith showed that the program intended to pay former Duke basketball star Zion Williamson for his services.

Those tapes not only implicate Smith and the Tiger basketball program, they also make reference to the football program, when Smith stated that the reason, " football is so successful, is if you do it and use resources at Clemson, like you can really keep everything tight."

Two years ago, Brownell sat down with media at his annual preseason golf outing and issued a scathing rebuke for those who engaged in the bribing and paying of players--while saying that he takes great pride in the way that he runs his program.

“It’s a tough situation now to be running these kinds of programs and to know that there are things going on and you work your tail off and you might recruit kids for years. The amount of times you drive to a place, the time you spent away from your family, you’re at all these events — and you don’t get a kid?” Brownell said. “Spending three years of your life recruiting people? That’s hard. That’s really hard. And it didn’t come down to anything you can control? That’s hard. And then you play against guys like that? You see them in another jersey? Tough situation.

“You can work really hard and not bear the fruit of your work, and that’s frustrating when you lose in a way that is ethical. Having said that, you never want to compromise the principles of your program and what you’re trying to do.”

Brownell continued his rebuke of those involved in the pay-for-play scandal by saying that the people who want to cheat are going to do so.

"I have always said the guys that want to cheat are going to cheat," Brownell said. "They are going to find ways to do things and obviously, the amount of money that is involved in our sport and the amount of money that coaches make."

The university issued the following statement after the statements by Smith came to light: "“We are aware of the developments in federal court today involving one of our men’s basketball assistant coaches. We take this matter seriously and will immediately conduct a review."