Ella Bresee to receive game ball after Clemson's win over Furman

CLEMSON — Ella Bresee, who is the younger sister of Clemson star defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, was unable to attend Clemson’s 35-12 victory over Furman Saturday afternoon.

Ella had been scheduled to be honored at the game, but she unfortunately had a setback as she continues to battle brain cancer.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney provided an update on Ella following Saturday’s game.

“I’m proud of our team for how they’ve come alongside Bryan and his family – the Bresee family,” Swinney said. “That’s what Ella Strong is all about today, something that we wanted to do as a team. Unfortunately, Ella wasn’t able to be here today. She was here all week, and she got a chance to speak to the team on Wednesday. But she had a real setback. They had to get her to the emergency room yesterday. They actually airlifted her back to DC today.”

Bryan Bresee stayed at Clemson and played in the game, while most of his family returned back to DC with Ella. Bryan is set to join the family in DC now that the game is over and will be away from the team for a at least a few days.

“He’s gonna go home tonight and try to get home for a couple of days. And so we’ll see what happens from there,” Swinney said.

While Ella was unable to attend the game, she will get a game ball from the victory as she continues to battle.

Clemson’s entire team sported t-shirts that said “Ella strong” Saturday to show support for her and the Bresee family.

“We love the Bresees. It’s an amazing family. She’s 15 years old and she’s just got a beautiful heart, a beautiful spirit. She’s the toughest Bresee in that whole family. It’s just a really tough time right now for all of them. And so to be able to kind of come alongside them – you can’t take the pain away but you can share in it and walk through it with them. That’s what our team is trying to do with Bryan,” Swinney said.

“It’s been really tough but it’s also been beautiful to see a group of young men put their arms around their brother. So unfortunately she wasn’t able to be here today, but she’ll definitely get a game ball from this game.”