Clemson basketball reaches out to star forward transfer from Valparaiso

It's been an eventful start to the week for Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell.

Following a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon, the Tigers went into full-blown offseason mode with players making decisions on next steps.

While Jaeden Zackery wants to return for one more year if he can get the eligibility, three players entered the transfer portal on Monday. Chauncey Wiggins, Del Jones, and Asa Thomas all announced that they'd be leaving Clemson for the portal, searching for new homes this offseason.

Brownell knew that he would have to get to work on the transfer portal to replace potentially seven (!!) key contributors (current and future) and he's already reaching out to some big names.

According to Joe Tipton, Clemson is one of the dozens of schools to have reached out to Valparaise star forward Cooper Schwieger this week.

As you can see, there's no shortage of interest in Schwieger since he entered the portal after a big sophomore season. He averaged 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds and shot about 49 percent from the field and 30 percent from three. His 3-point percentage dipped from 36 percent his freshman year, but he does have that ability to knock down the deep-ball.

If this does't sound like the perfect replacement for Viktor Lakhin and Ian Schieffelin -- and even Wiggins -- I don't know what does.

Brownell will have to battle it out with the 16 other teams that have reached out, but only five teams that have shown interest made the NCAA Tournament this season. Clemson is one of them. That has to be a major draw in Clemson's favor.