It may be the middle of the summer and fans are gearing up for what should be a special football season, but Clemson basketball is still working.
The Tigers did get bounced early in the NCAA Tournament by Will Wade and McNeese, but that seemingly only motivated Brad Brownell as he immediately got to work in the transfer portal. He replaced essentially his entire roster who either transferred out or went the pro route -- or chose to join the football team like Ian Schieffelin.
Clemson has also been planning some non-conference games for the upcoming season and it has already secured its ACC-SEC Challenge opponent (Alabama).
They're only going to add more non-conference foes as the offseason treks on, and on Friday, the program announced that it would be hosting Mercer on Dec. 13.
Sources: Clemson will host Mercer as part of its 2025-26 non-conference schedule. The date is set for Saturday, December 13th inside Littlejohn Coliseum.#ACC#SoCon
— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) July 10, 2025
This isn't the biggest non-conference addition, but it's going to help fill out the slate, and it'll give the Tigers a nice break before ACC play. Mercer was just 14-19 last season, playing just one power conference team but losing 84-72 to South Carolina. The Bears were, however, just 6-12 in SoCon play so they weren't exactly a thorn in anyone's side.
Alabama and Mercer are the latest schedule additions for Clemson this offseason, and I do like that the Tigers are filling out the schedule with a mix of cupcakes and powerhouses.
Clemson has been trending up as a program, making the Elite Eight two years ago, and then it went 27-7 last year with a win over Duke and second-place finish in the ACC. It should have had a deeper run in March, but upsets happen.