Two weeks ago when Nick Honor announced his transfer from Clemson basketball, I mentioned that it wouldn’t be Al-Amir Dawes that would take those minutes since Dawes had played almost a thousand of his own.
Little did I know that Dawes, too would enter the portal, leaving Clemson without 1,900+ minutes of experience from last season at the guard position and that doesn’t include the 925 minutes of David Collins.
With Honor’s departure I was told that Josh Beadle was expected to jump in and cover those 25 or so minutes a game.
For those unfamiliar with that name, Beadle redshirted this season and is a 6’3 combo guard from Cardinal Newman high in Columbia.
This is Brad Brownell on Beadle:
"“Josh is a combo guard with speed and athleticism who can affect the game in both the full and half court. Josh has very good basketball instincts which allow him to make plays for himself and others. I love to add guys to our program who are winners and Josh has won back-to-back state titles at Cardinal Newman. He’s an impressive young man, serving as his senior class president in high school. We expect Josh to have a prominent leadership role in our program.”"
The Tigers also have a commitment from 6’6 shooting guard Chauncey Gibson of Dallas, TX.
These changes mean Clemson is getting bigger at guard which is a good thing in my mind, but putting a lot of faith in two guys that have yet to play a minute of college basketball.
Also returning at guard are Chase Hunter and Alex Hemenway, both listed at 6’3.5, oddly enough.
After years of being small at the position it appears that Brownell and staff have shifted in philosophy and decided bigger is the way to go.
In general, I think that’s the right way to go with Brownell’s style as guards are a big part of the rebounding equation, as Collins was this past season.
The number of minutes lost unexpectedly and relative inexperience are a concern.
On the other hand, Brownell is a frequent flyer in the portal himself and it wouldn’t surprise me if he goes out and grabs one or two for Clemson.