Brownell, Tigers Deserve Support
Brad Brownell knew this season would be tough having to replace last year’s leading scorers Marquise Reed and Shelton Mitchell.
He knew this year’s team would look different in searching for a go-to player, which is why the 2019-20 Tigers will look to their fans to provide a spark and an environment that can help a team that is very young by ACC standards to succeed.
“Just really excited about 2019. Coming off an incredible summer where we were able to win the gold medal in the World University Games,” Brownell said. “A unique experience that I think our staff and players will remember for a long time. To have the opportunity to represent the United States is something very few people get to do, so to have that opportunity is very humbling and I think made a big impact on our team. We had a unique situation where we were still recruiting players well into the summer last year and had to bring seven new guys together and assimilate a team quickly and deal with some injuries to a couple of good players that we were counting on.
“I was really proud of the way our guys put it all together. I like this team. I think there's a difference sometimes when you have so many new players - seven new players and half your roster is new. The young guys come in and there's this youthful exuberance and enthusiasm but then your older guys - our two grad transfers and our two other transfers - this is their first time to be at Clemson. They all want to put their best foot forward. I think they're excited about a new opportunity. When you get guys like that, they're usually very coachable.”
However, if history holds true to form, the sad fact is that support for this team will be mediocre at best.
Now I am not talking about the 9 o’clock tipoffs on Monday nights, but every other reasonable game time when there is no excuse. There is no excuse for there to be empty seats in the student section. No excuse for the people who have said of football game times, “I don’t care if they play at 2 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, I’m going to be there.”
So why does a school that has no problem fitting 85,000 fans into a stadium in the middle of nowhere have issues getting even the students to walk across campus to go support a basketball team that has been to the postseason in three of the last four seasons, with an NCAA tournament run sandwiched between NIT berths.
I don’t believe the answers lie in blaming ESPN, television or ticket prices, because none of those hold water when you discuss the reality of the situation. You see, ESPN, Fox Sports or any other television broadcasting group has never stopped anyone from going to a football game. Did you see empty seats during the national championship game because people wanted to stay home and watch the game on TV?
Of course not, because people love to go to sporting events. They love to be a part of the pageantry and witness the spectacular in person. Duke, UNC, Pittsburgh, Louisville and even South Carolina have not seen television impact attendance — and the list could go on.
So let’s not fool ourselves into believing television is the evil empire.
As for ticket prices, the Tigers tried to alleviate that burden in previous seasons, offering general admission for $10 for games, and offering discounted ticket packages and special game deals.
Getting fans in the seats for games wasn’t always an issue. There was a time when students camped outside, waited in the cold and rain and people couldn’t wait to get inside to watch their team take on whoever dared enter the arena that night. So what has happened?
Apathy and bloated expectations are what happened.
The Tigers and the Gamecocks are never going to be Duke. However, we live in a world of what have you done for me lately. In this world, if you are not winning every night, then you don’t get the support. If you are not ranked, we don’t care.
For some reason, fans have the equation backward thinking that if you win, we will come. You see, the equation should be fans show up, support the team and the winning will come because of the environment that you help create — the environment that can’t be created with fans sitting in front of their televisions flipping back and forth between the game and reruns of “I Love Lucy.”
However, after bringing home a gold medal in Italy this summer, Brownell hopes that the Tiger fans are as excited as he is about the program.
“There's an enthusiasm and excitement with every meeting. I think we saw that in Italy and it's continued here. Our guys really like each other,” Brownell said. “I think we're probably void of a preseason superstar like we've had. I think we have very good depth. We're still in a wait and see with our roster but we took 11 guys that played regularly in Italy and we subbed them in and out frequently. Everybody played and played unselfishly and together.”
This team needs the support of a full house. Every team deserves that.
Brownell did everything he could this offseason to put together a team that would make the fanbase proud, even, once again, heading to the transfer market to bring in the talent necessary to compete in the ACC.
“We went out and got two grad transfers - Tevin Mack and Curran Scott. We had no seniors coming back. Playing with freshmen in this league is not usually a recipe for success. You need some older guys who have been through it. Tevin is a young man that I've known since he was 17 years old and recruited him for a good while, so I knew of his ability, his talent. I think this is a great opportunity for him to come back to where he's from - South Carolina - and really have a big senior year. He's a guy that can make shots. He can score. We need that. He has to learn another system and it's his third system so there's a lot that goes into it. He's got to fit in with a younger team but he's done a good job. I really like how unselfish he's been. He's surprised me a little bit with how unselfish he's been.
“Curran is a guy that we saw could come in and play a couple of positions for us, bring some experience, bring some more three-point shooting. He's done a good job of adjusting. I'm really glad we added those guys. I think their maturity level is something we're going to need desperately when we get to ACC play.”
These student-athletes put hours or blood, sweat and tears into a job that’s sole purpose is to entertain the fans watching. The least the fans can do is get out of their house or dorm and make the trip or walk over to support them. Maybe if fans get behind the team from the beginning rather than waiting on a magical end-of-the-season run, we might see something special from a special group of kids.
The journey begins tonight.
