Brad Brownell: 'There's a narrative that needs to change a little bit with our program'

After Clemson made its second Elite Eight ever and the program’s first in 44 years in 2024, head basketball coach Brad Brownell is calling for some more recognition towards the Tiger basketball program.

In the last six years, Brownell has led some inspiring campaigns and even some decent postseason success for a program that hasn’t traditionally been elite. Back in 2018, he got to the Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed. Then, in 2021, Clemson earned a 7-seed but lost in the first round.

2024 featured the best season yet for Brownell as the Clemson head coach. The Tigers finished above-.500 in conference play and made the big dance as a No. 6 seed, ultimately beating (10-seed) New Mexico, (3) Baylor and (2) Arizona to make it to the Elite Eight, where they lost to Alabama. Clemson was just short of the program’s first Final Four, and Brownell wants to see the program get some credit for such a terrific season.

“Just tremendous accomplishments. Saw that there’s only 24 schools that have been to a Sweet 16 and an Elite 8 in the last whatever, since 2018, whatever that is, six or seven years, and we’re one of them,” he noted at a press conference this week. “So I think that somehow there’s a narrative that needs to change a little bit with our program.”

Clemson has become a consistent finisher in the top half of the ACC standings and is now regularly making the NCAA Tournament, even winning a few games in the times they have made it.

“We’ve done well, we’ve been talking about being top five in the league and wins over a seven-year period here now. Like, it started at like five years and it’s six years, seven years. Like, we are winning consistently, and we’ve now had some tournament success to go with it. And so, I do think that that needs to be talked about a little bit more.”

Brad Brownell also wanted to make sure his players and coaching staff receive their due credit for helping consistently produce a competitive ACC basketball program on a yearly basis.

“I’m really proud of our players. I’m proud of my coaching staff for the job they did. Those guys, the last two years, they’ve had their backs against the wall and and have just done an unbelievable job of staying focused and motivated and coaching at a high level and pouring into our players. And obviously, we’ve had a lot of success here recently, so we’re excited about that. But I’m happy for my staff too.”

Now, Brownell and the Tigers will look to build off a great peak in March of 2024 with an eye on getting right back to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 2025.