Finally, the nation is starting to take notice of how good the Clemson basketball team is. Now sitting at 9-1 on the season, the Tigers find themselves in the top 25 for the first time this season.
On the heels of a big week that saw head coach Brad Brownell's team secure a 70-66 home win over No. 4 Kentucky and a 65-55 road victory to open ACC play at Miami, the Tigers are now No. 16 in both the Associated Press and the Coaches Poll, which were released on Monday.
The Tigers moved up 10 spots this week making them the fastest-rising team of the week. Meanwhile, Kentucky fell just one spot to No. 5 largely because on Saturday night, they picked up a huge one-point win over No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle, which was essentially a road game.
Of course, forward Ian Schieffelin has been the driving force behind Clemson's red-hot start to the season. On Monday, he was named the ACC Player of the Week.
It is the first Player of the Week honor for the senior from Atlanta, Georgia. Over the two-game span, he averaged 13 points, 16.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.
Racking up double-doubles against both Kentucky and Miami, he continues to be the heart and soul of the Tigers. Against the Wildcats, he notched 11 points, 20 rebounds, and four assists and against the Hurricanes he added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Schieffelin is the nation's leader in rebounds per game (12.5) and total rebounds (125). He’s also third in defensive rebounds per game (8.4) and eighth in offensive rebounds per game (4.10).
This week, the Tigers have only one game but it is a good matchup as the Memphis Tigers come to Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday. Last week, the blue Tigers were ranked No. 16 in the polls but they fell out of the top 25 this week after suffering a puzzling 85-72 home loss to Arkansas State.
Still, Memphis is a dangerous team and they will test Clemson's shiny new ranking in an important non-conference game. But if Schieffelin and his teammates play like they did last week, there are few teams in the nation that should frighten them.