Clemson Basketball is Reloading (2024)

The Tigers have only won NCAA tournament games in consecutive years once in school history (1989 and 1990). With the roster they’re building, they will have a chance to do it next season.

Clemson lost their leading scorer and star player PJ Hall (he has a COVID waiver but seems likely to depart) and his seldom used back-up Bas Leyte to graduation. Beloved one-and-done transfer Joe Girard has also exhausted his eligibility and departs after making 105 3-pointers (.413 3P%) in his year at Clemson.

Additionally, three Clemson players have entered the portal. Jack Clark was expected to leave via graduation, but instead applied for a waiver for a seventh year (!) of eligibility and entered the portal. Josh Beadle, who found himself buried in the depth chart during the NCAA tournament also entered the portal and landed at Boston College. Lastly, the only surprise departure was RJ Godfrey. He was an athletic raw prospect that the coaches developed very well and seemed poised for a big junior season as a first-time starter. Losing him, likely for promises of NIL money, was a tough blow.

Coming off an Elite Eight season and losing all that talent, it felt like next year would be a rebuilding season. That may not be the case. Coach Brownell has landed two immediate impact players through the portal to keep both the talent and experience level up: Viktor Lakhin (C – Cincinnati) and Jaeden Zackery (G – Boston College). Here are our thoughts on the additions and what this means for Clemson.

Ryan Kantor:

I’d assumed next year would be a true rebuild, especially after Godfrey unexpectedly left. Now, I’m thinking the opposite. I anticipated Coach Brownell would find a player like Mark Donnal (from the 2018 season) who could come in and be an experienced above-average back-up center. Instead, they got Viktor Lakhin from Cincinnati. Lakhin isn’t a great shooter (.557 FT%, .255 3P%), but at 6-foot-11 he doesn’t need to be. Lahkin is from Anapa, Russia, a coastal town along the Black Sea north of Sochi. After playing on what sounds like the equivalent of prep teams (think IMG Academy in American football), he became a Cincinnati Bearcat. He was there for four seasons including a redshirt freshman season. The last two years as a redshirt sophom*ore and redshirt junior, he averaged 11.6 points with 7.1 rebounds and 9.2 points with 6.0 rebounds, respectively. He battled lower body injuries through much of his time at Cincinnati and that’ll be a concern at Clemson as well. The lanky right-hander has a beautiful hook shot that he’ll use to do damage in the paint. When healthy, I expect him and Schieffelin to form a formidable post duo.

While the team need wasn’t as huge at guard, replacing Girard’s scoring is still paramount, and Coach Brownell found a familiar face to fill the void. Jaeden Zackery scored 40 points across two games vs. Clemson this season. After losing Josh Beadle to Boston College earlier in the portal window, the Tigers returned the favor and them some by taking Boston College’s best guard. Unlike Girard, Zackery isn’t primarily a 3-point shooter. He made them at a 40.5% clip, which is excellent, but he attempted 79 3-pointers compared to Girard’s 254 attempts. Zackery is more of a slasher and cutter who can do damage at the basket, in the mid-range game, and from 3. His style is more like Chase Hunter’s. It’s on that note that Zackery also gave us this golden nugget of good news:

A Hunter-Zackery backcourt would be dynamic. I’d expect Zackery to shoot more 3-pointers than he did last season, but expect the team to also become less reliant on the 3-ball. With him and Hunter, the Tigers will have multiple players who can create their own shot. Zackery averaged 4.2 assists per game. That would have led Clemson last season (Hunter averaged 3.2).

They may make one more addition, perhaps a depth piece for the front court, but with what they’ve added they should avoid a rebuilding season. They also have three freshmen joining the team plus Jake Heidbreder coming off a redshirt season. At 6-foot-5 with a .399 3P%, he will give the offense a boost as well. Coach Brownell seems to have found a way to avoid a massive drop off from all the departures.

Houston Burnett:

We still wait with bated breath for the final answer on three important pieces for Clemson basketball in 2024-25. However, the additions through traditional recruiting and the portal have given fans more than a glimmer of hope for the next iteration of Brad Brownell’s team.

The first point I want to make, especially since several people have glossed over this tidbit, is that this incoming freshmen class is the highest-rated that Brad Brownell has signed since 2020. What’s important about that year? It was the same class as PJ Hall.

I’m not saying that all three of these freshmen will be contributors to the level of Hall, but the athleticism shown by newcomers Del Jones, Dallas Thomas, and Ace Buckner will provide a good foundation to win now and grow for the future.

As for the new additions from the portal, the Tigers have once again gotten off to a stellar start. I say “start” because of the possibility of more additions after we know if PJ Hall and Chase Hunter officially stick with the NBA Draft and if Alex Hemenway uses his combination of COVID-waiver (from his freshman year) and redshirt (this year) to return to Clemson for year six.

Victor Lahkin and Jaeden Zackery, although in completely different positions, bring a similar flair to the team. Lahkin is a strong rebounder and a rim protector who puts up solid scoring numbers. He also can break out and have some big games. Cliff Spammonds, worth a follow on X, showcases what Lahkin can do in his best game this year at BYU.

As for Zackery, he’s not quite Joe Girard but I don’t think he’s being brought in to be just like him. He brings another scoring and driving threat which I believe we lacked with Josh Beadle departing. It also helps to bring in the guy who knew just how to dominate in both games where you faced him this year. Let’s once again go to Cliff Spammonds for some tape.

Likely, the Tigers will add 1 more, maybe 2, before the fall. But with new additions via the portal, recruiting, and a couple of guys just getting healthy, The Tigers might make this whole “make a run in March” thing a real possibility again.