Rubbing The Rock Round Table discussion: Brad Brownell
Welcome to Rubbing The Rock’s inaugural round table discussion, where each of the members of Rubbing The Rock’s staff debate on a specific topic. This weeks topic is Brad Brownell, head coach of the Clemson mens basketball team.
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The Tigers struggled to finish games down the stretch and lost in the first round of the NIT tournament to mid-major Oakland.
Despite the dismal season, Athletic director Dan Radakovich decided to bring Brad Brownell back for an eighth season. Here’s what the staff had to say.
Ben Greeson- I’m not one to wish that anyone gets fired. Sometimes however, a move needs to be made for the betterment of the program. Clemson is not recruiting at a high level right now. The new Littlejohn upgrades proves that the school is committed to winning. So another year of mediocrity will probably seal the deal for Brownell in Tiger Town. It’s of my opinion that barring an NCAA tourney win this coming season, this will be Brownell’s last season in Clemson.”
See also: Clemson Basketball must recruit better to compete in the ACC
Tyreese Ingram- “The $3.5 million buyout played a huge part in Radakovick’s decision. Brownell really has to find some way to improve his team’s defense. This team scored but defended worse than any of his teams. Any semblance of a repeated demise in defense will lead to Brownell being fired at season’s end despite the slightly lower $3 million loss. ”
Cole Little- “Bringing Brad Brownell back for another season is a wise decision for Clemson, as it would be tough to move on from him since this season could have easily turned out far differently than it did.”
“From Shelton Mitchell’s untimely preseason knee injury that seemed to linger throughout the season to Eli Thomas’s mid-season eligibility to the high number of sickeningly close losses, Clemson had a variety of unfortunate setbacks working against its cause to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.”
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“Although star forward Jaron Blossomgame has exhausted his eligibility, the Tigers actually might be better next season because the team’s three best players from this past season not named Jaron Blossomgame, Marcquise Reed, Elijah Thomas and the aforementioned Reed, will all be healthy, starting and completely in sync with Brownell’s system then.”
“Brownell has had notoriously bad luck in close games against good teams throughout his Clemson tenure, and that was the defining factor of the 2016-2017 season for the Tigers. Playing in the extremely deep ACC, the Tigers walked a fine line between being a potential March Madness bracket buster or an NIT team.”
“Unfortunately for Clemson’s sake, a lack of quality ACC victories made for the latter, but if the Tigers are able to capitalize off of the promise that they consistently displayed this year by making it into the Big Dance next year, Brownell is the man for the job in making sure that they do just that.”
Eddie Becker- “I think bringing Brownell back was a mistake. We showed with the Monte Lee hire a few years ago that we wouldn’t accept complacency with the baseball program. Why would we do so with basketball? This was arguably the best roster Brownell has had at Clemson. Not making the tournament this year was bad enough, but losing the way they did in the NIT was inexcusable.”
“This same conversation took place last year among many fans: if we don’t make the Big Dance next year, he’s gone. Well, next year came and went, and he’s still here. My question is if “Best” is our standard in football and baseball, what is it in basketball?”
Anthony Messenger- “I understand Dan Radakovich’s thought process in bringing Brad Brownell back. His teams always play hard and none of his players cause any trouble in the community. That being said, bringing Brownell back for an eighth season is ultimately delaying the inevitable.
The Tigers may have a successful season in 2017-18, however, Brownell does not recruit well enough to sustain success year in year out. If having a decent season every few years is the standard, than by all means keep Brownell, but, if competing for an NCAA tournament bid every year is the goal, changes need to be made.
Next: 3 things we need to see from Clemson in the spring game