Clemson basketball: Brownell snags 1st commit of 2023 cycle – Small forward Asa Thomas

He’s watched Dabo Swinney and Erik Bakich gain commitments at a breakneck pace this summer and now it’s Brad Brownell’s turn, as the Clemson basketball coach reeled in his first recruit of the 2023 cycle Thursday.

Asa Thomas, a three star small forward out of Lake Forest, Illinois who’s ranked 198 overall by 247sports, announced his commitment via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/AsaThomas13/status/1547627215780663296?s=20&t=IbAcxdNo00tDaKGCO4YJjA

Some outlets list Thomas as 6’5, others at 6’7, but no matter how tall he is he is known for drilling three pointers as you can see via his Hudl highlights.

247sports lists Thomas as the 7th best player overall in Illinois in the class of 2023 and 40th best small forward overall.

Other than Clemson, Thomas had offers from a bevy of Big 10 and other Midwest teams including Iowa, Illinois, Marquette, Minnesota and Wisconsin, in addition to Virginia Tech and Oklahoma among others after his services.

Thomas was just offered by Clemson on June 21st and made a decision and commitment to join the Tigers less than a month after the offer was first given.

Much like with Clemson baseball, Brad Brownell’s team is in the middle of a makeover that saw multiple veteran players transfer out, including Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes, while adding Brevin Galloway from Boston College and adding freshmen Chauncey Wiggins, Chauncey Gibson, Dillon Hunter and R.J. Godfrey.

There was also turnover on the coaching staff.

Redshirt freshman guard Josh Beadle is expected to play a significant role moving forward as the Tigers look to get bigger at the guard position moving forward.

The Tigers have decided that size at the position is more important than experience as every guard on the roster is listed as at least 6’1 and those expected to see the majority of the playing time are listed as 6’2 – 6’5, a significant change from the smaller Honor and Dawes combo.