Brownell Updates Clemson's Offseason Protocols, Injuries
Like all college basketball teams, the Clemson Tigers are behind schedule in terms of getting ready for a new season.
COVID-19 not only ended their season at the ACC tournament in March, it forced the players to spend the spring and early summer at home, costing them crucial developmental time. It also restricted recruiting.
Now that the Tigers are back on campus and going through virtual classes, they're also adjusting to new ways of working out. Men's head coach Brad Brownell said Friday on WCCP 105.5. The Roar that most of all, the time away and the current protocols and guidelines have restricted the family atmosphere and comradery that his team likes to create.
"I really like our team. I like our guys," Brownell said. "You can see that they really missed each other when they were away. I think they appreciate each other a little more sometimes because of what we've all had to deal with but it's been great to get back to campus. It's not normal yet, but it's better."
Some of the many changes include wearing masks in the weight room and on the court, which creates challenges in breathing and sweating while they're getting up and down the court. They had their locker room shut down much of the summer, so players would come in, get their work done and leave, even receiving meals to go.
But that hasn't hurt the spirit of his team as the Tigers have taken this seriously and taken measures to do everything they can to make sure they're on the court playing games this winter.
"You can tell how much they want to play and how much they want to compete and how much they love their sport," Brownell said. "Because of that, they're different than most of the regular students. They feel like they have something important to lose so by and large they're going to do a better job of making good decisions. Now, you just don't get COVID by going to a party. You can get it a lot of different ways."
Brownell said it will challenge the entire sport if/when players do test positive during the season because of how much time they spend closely together. But he's hoping to hear more from the NCAA on Sept. 16 about a plan to get the 2020-21 campaign going.
"We're optimistic that Dabo (Swiney) and the boys are going to be able to get out there and play and hopefully that helps us have a reasonable start time," Brownell said.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Excitement building with veterans, youth
There is excitement building around this basketball program, at least within Littlejohn Coliseum and the practice facility. The Tigers not only return key veterans like Aamir Simms, Clyde Trapp, John Newman and Al-Amir Dawes, Brownell also has two impressive freshmen in P.J. Hall and Olivier-Maxence Prosper infusing a youthful exuberance into the team.
Brownell said they're talented and further along than most freshmen he's recruited in recent years. He said both of those players already have good size, but they're hard workers, great people and "very motivated and hungry."
"These guys are on a high level with that," Brownell said. "They're talented enough as freshmen, they're going to play."
Hall, a power forward and top recruit in the state of South Carolina, received great coaching at Dorman (Spartanburg) High School, Brownell said, and Prosper, who can play multiple positions and do about everything on the court, has a maturity about him because the Canadian has already lived away from home for two years.
Depth, health should lead to different style of play
"We've got more depth and more good players than we've had in a couple of years," Brownell said.
He hopes that will help the Tigers play more full-court defense because they can rotate various bodies in, and he feels like practices will be more competitive and spur more development this season.
Clemson has to get healthy first, though. The Tigers went through many injuries a year ago that forced a lot of players to grow up quickly, and that should come in handy when they get everyone back.
Right now, forward Jonathan Baehre is still working his way back from his second major knee injury in a year and still has the farthest to go health-wise. Guard Chase Hunter is close to getting turned loose as a stress fracture in his foot continues to improve.
Trapp, who tore his ACL last summer, is still building strength in his knee but has shed the brace and has Brownell optimistic that the guard will get the full spring back in his step. Meanwhile, Newman is coming off a knee scope and has had his development shortened this offseason, but Brownell still expects the talented and explosive guard to take his game to another level this season.
"I'm very excited about my group," Brownell said. "We're just keeping our fingers crossed that we're going to be able to go play."
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