Brad Brownell details strong start vs. New Mexico, difference from ACC Tournament

Clemson had one of its worst performances of the season heading into the NCAA Tournament, getting blown out by Boston College in the ACC tourney.

The Tigers look like a different team in the NCAA Tournament so far, though and lead New Mexico 42-28 at the break.

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Clemson coach Brad Brownell spoke with TruTV at halftime about his team coming out ready to play in the NCAA tourney and what’s different about his squad now.

“You know, I don’t know. I wish I had the answer to it. We just had a bad day,” Brownell said of his team’s play against Boston College. “Picked a bad day to have a bad day. Now we’ve had a good start, but we’ve gotta have another 20 minutes here to finish this.”

Clemson took a 14-point lead into halftime against New Mexico, despite star forward PJ Hall picking up a pair of fouls in the first half. Hall played only 12 of the first 20 minutes, yet the Tigers continued to play well without him. Sophomore forward RJ Godfrey gave Brownell some really good minutes off the bench.

Godfrey had 6 points, 1 rebounds and 2 blocks, in only nine minutes of action.

“Well, I don’t like it. I’ll tell you that,” Brownell said of PJ Hall’s foul trouble. “I want him out there playing, but I’m proud of our guys. RJ gave us some great minutes off the bench. His athleticism and energy is terrific.”

Challenge of balancing NCAA Tournament, transfer portal is ‘distracting,’ for Brad Brownell, other coaches

College basketball coaches across country have spoken out about the timing of the transfer window clashing with the NCAA Tournament schedule. The message was no different in the Memphis region, where Clemson, Texas A&M and Nebraska are among the staffs balancing multiple duties.

Under the current NCAA guidelines, the spring transfer portal window for basketball opened on March 18, and will remain open for 45 days, closing on May 1.

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell is part of the NABC committee and has been part of conversations surrounding the issue.

“Distracting,” Brownell described the situation. “I was adamantly against this for this very reason. It’s a hard time of year for everybody, players, coaches, the whole nine yards.”