Brad Brownell shares locker room mindset amid continued success

It’s been quite the season for Clemson. The Tigers take a 17-4 overall record, including a 9-1 mark in ACC play, into Saturday’s game against Florida State and ranked No. 56 in the NET rankings as of Friday night.

Despite the success this season, head coach Brad Brownell said he’s not changing his approach. He’s still taking things a few steps at a time even as the calendar prepares to flip to February.

“I’ve said this before, I just look at every week,” Brownell said. “I look at every week. What do we have this week? What do we have to do to try to play well this week? How do I need to prepare my guys? What messaging do I need to do as a head coach? Obviously, how much do we need to practice? Just get with my staff and try to manage every week the best we can and then figure it out as we go.

“Obviously, I’m thrilled. Happy for our team, the players and fans. But there’s still 10 games to go. We’ve done a nice job of staying together, being focused and we’ve played well enough to win some good games.”

Brad Brownell: Clemson talks about place in standings, but not ‘a lot’

Clemson enters play Saturday in first place, 1.5 games ahead of second-place Virginia. It’s easy for fans — and players, for that matter — to look at the standings and see the Tigers sitting above the rest of the ACC.

Some coaches say they don’t look at the standings or talk about it. Brownell said different. Although he doesn’t bring it up much, he admitted the standings come up from time to time.

That said, he wants his players to remain focused on the task at hand.

“We talk about it a little bit,” Brownell said. “We don’t talk about it a lot. But I certainly make our guys understand where they are. We don’t make a big deal out of it. There’s still way too much basketball left. These guys don’t need all that. They need to dream big, focus small. We need to be on point.”

Clemson has a chance to keep a stronghold on the top of the ACC when it takes on Florida State Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.