March Madness: Clemson Discusses First-Round Matchup Against McNeese State

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell and players Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin met with the media ahead of their 2025 NCAA Tournament first-round matchup against McNeese State, set for a 3:15 p.m. tipoff at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I., on truTV. 

On the reported negotiations of a new six-year contract:

Brad Brownell: "Yeah, very close to ironing it out, extremely grateful. I have had a bunch of meetings with Graham [Neff] really as the regular season was coming to an end. He got with me, and we started having preliminary conversations. They've heated up over the last week or so. It's been really good, and we're close to being able to finalize something. Obviously, I'm extremely excited about it happy. Clemson has been a very special place for me and my family for 15 years and just have thoroughly enjoyed building the program. Love what Clemson stands for as a university and proud to be a part of it."

On how much the Elite Eight run from last season has helped change the perception of Clemson basketball: 

Brad Brownell: "I think it helped in recruiting, certainly the transfer portal. We've had some success. We went to a Sweet 16 back in '18 and have been competitive in our league, but making another run like that in the NCAA Tournament, high visibility, high exposure at exactly the right time, and the portal is opening and all the things you're dealing with.

"It's also been really good for this year's team. Guys knowing what they're playing for, Chase and Ian especially. Chauncey Wiggins, Dillon Hunter, guys who were part of last year's run. That kind of success fuels you and you want to continue to do it. You want to be in big-time games and play significant games in March. I think it helped grow our team and fuel our team a little bit throughout the course of the season."

On having junior forward Chauncey Wiggins back in the starting lineup with junior guard Dillon Hunter out with a broken hand:

Brad Brownell: “Chauncey has been a starter for several games this year. He's fine. He's fine starting, coming off the bench. He's a confident scorer. I think he's a guy who will play well. I don't think anything really changes. Obviously, losing Dillon is a little bit of an issue just from the standpoint of he's the ultimate glue guy. He does all the little things that coaches love that don't always show up as points. But, we've got other players that are going to get more opportunity. Jake Heidbreder, Del Jones. They don't play exactly like Dillon, but they certainly fill a role and can be productive in the minutes that they do get, and I expect those guys to play well.

On if there is some kind of a little edge, or chip on their shoulders after the controversial loss to Louisville in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament:

Brad Brownell: "Yeah, a little. I think we're onto new things, though. We're not using that as a super rallying cry. It's a little different than last year when we played so poorly against Boston College. This year, it was more that we didn't play as well as we'd like --  made a ferocious fight there at the end but came up a little short. It's really more learning about why we didn't play as well during parts of the Louisville game and how we have to correct that."

On what the coaches have told them about McNeese State's pressing defense (The Cowboys are 25th in the country in steals with nine per game):

Chase Hunter: “We know they like to switch a lot. They like to press. They play really hard. They're a team that plays really free on offense. They have some guys who can shoot, have some guys who really like to drive. They're a good team. That's what we know. We just need to be prepared for them.”

Ian Schieffelin: “I think one key is keeping them off the offensive glass. They're one of the best offensive rebounding teams, not just in the conference but in the country. So, just keeping them off the glass in rebounding.

On being concerned about the team's recent shooting struggles from beyond the arc. Clemson was shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range to begin last month -- leading the ACC -- but made only 31 of 130 3-point attempts (24-percent) in the last seven games:

Chase Hunter: “No, I wouldn't say so. It happens sometimes in this game. You just got to go into the next game ready, confident in yourself. I think that we'll definitely shoot it well. We're just going to keep putting up shots and just moving on to the next game and being confident for the next one.”

Ian Schieffelin: “You're not going to shoot the ball well every night. That's one of the reasons this team is good. We can find ways to win, even if, we're not shooting well every night. Hopefully, it'll pick up a little bit.”