Clemson Men’s Basketball: Fans won’t ever buy in with status quo

What a chaotic, crazy, injury-filled, topsy-turvy year it’s been for Clemson Men’s Basketball and we’re not finished yet – technically.

For a team with little preseason expectations, the Tigers managed to zoom to the top of the league, thrill and then disappoint their fans, which I would have never thought possible with an 11-5 conference record that’s on the verge of setting a school record, albeit with more conference games.

That kind of sums up the Brad Brownell Era for me: Low expectations are exceeded, fans buy in, team struggles late, fans bail.

I’ve been a fence sitter in the should he stay or should he go discussion around Brownell.  For me, Clemson basketball comes after football and baseball and the admin seems to act similarly.

Late though, I’m wondering if softball has moved the basketball team down in the pecking order, or at least is pushing to make it so.

Basketball’s early ACC success this season, made me realize something that was rolling around in the back of my mind during the previous years’ roller coaster seasons.

A good chunk of Clemson basketball fans are never going to accept Brad Brownell no matter what the results are.

It didn’t matter that the team was 7-0 in the ACC.  The Brownell haters sloughed that off as the result of a weak ACC.

It didn’t matter that the team was short-handed, playing well and looked well-coach in mid-season because they were almost certainly going to “Brownell”.

And they have.

The crisp ball movement of the early season has turned into lets fire up a three 7 seconds into the shot clock.

What’s the old saying? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

That’s how Clemson basketball fans feel at the end of every season, and sometimes during seasons.  Like now.

But here’s the thing, even if Clemson had continued to win, there’s a fairly high percentage of fans that wouldn’t buy in as long as Brownell’s in charge, no matter what this team or the next one, achieved.

They don’t believe and never will.

So, the administration can continue with the status quo, ask for support and will receive some – that’s the Clemson way.

But there’s a solid, and I would say growing, number of fans that won’t buy in until there’s a change.

I say growing because I’m close to joining them.

Maybe I already have.

Being a Clemson Men’s Basketball fan has been a roller coaster, but maybe its time for change

And, if after 136 years of being a Clemson basketball fan, I’m considering joining the group that will never buy in, that tells me many more “younger” fans have, or will, bailed and they’re not coming back until there’s a change.

You can argue whether that’s right or wrong, good or bad.

I just know that’s the way it is.

Lack of change will be seen as the administration not caring about being mediocre and the fans will react accordingly.