Brad Brownell gives honest reaction to Clemson getting in top 25 rankings

Brad Brownell was certainly proud of his Clemson team getting in the top 25, but it’s not the end all, be all for the Tigers.

It was quite the weekend and, well, weekday for the Tigers. They knocked off Duke and North Carolina back to back to get into the top 25 and put a stamp on their ranking.

While it’s great for the program, Brownell just wants to keep at it one day at a time.

“Yeah, I mean it’s good for the program,” Brownell said postgame. “I mean, it’s just good for the PR and all those kinds of things. I’m sure the guys enjoy that. But it’s, I don’t think we all lose a lot of sleep over whether we’re, you know, getting votes and in it, you know? We certainly want to be in it, because that means we’re playing well and we’re winning and, you know, we want to rise in the rankings, because that means we’re going to continue to win games. 

“But at the end of the day, I think we’re just, we’re … trying to get better, play good basketball, obviously, putting ourselves in a position to have a chance, maybe, to do something special. And you know, so they certainly are aware of things like that but I don’t think we waste a lot of time on it.”

In the win over North Carolina, Viktor Lakhin led the way with 22 points and six rebounds. Chase Hunter added 19 points, one rebound and two assists.

“Obviously, a great win for us. You know, proud of the way our guys have bounced back these last two games. We played very well,” Brownell said. “Obviously, a little different. Tonight, we made a bunch of threes, and that’s why we have a chance to have a good team. We can beat you in different ways. I thought defensively, we were solid. Got better in the middle stretch of the game.

“When you shoot the ball like we did, it can be hard for the opponent. So, really just happy [about] the way our guys adjusted. Two different types of teams. Duke’s bigger, and obviously North Carolina [has] great speed. So, this was obviously a great 48 hours for us.”

Moving forward, Brownell will have to keep Clemson’s focus on their main goals, but the Tigers will enjoy a nice break before facing off against Florida State on Saturday.

Stephen Samra contributed to this story