Clemson prepares for No. 2 Virginia; Brownell on the loss of Grantham, "It's a tough one."
CLEMSON -- No. 18 Clemson will travel to Charlottesville, Virginia to face No. 2 ranked Virginia on Tuesday night.
It’ll be Clemson’s first game without senior forward Donte Grantham, who tore his right ACL in the middle of the second half Saturday against Notre Dame in a 67-58 win.
“Did we win (on Saturday)?” Brownell asked the media Monday afternoon. “Because there’s been a lot of things written that make it seem like we didn’t even play on Saturday.”
While getting their 16th win and remaining unbeaten at home was good for a Clemson team that continues its trek along conference play, losing Grantham and the idea of Zion Williamson coming to Clemson has pierced the hearts of many Clemson fans.
Brownell can’t comment publicly on Williamson until he officially signs, but he did spend most of his time Monday afternoon talking about Grantham and how his team will move forward.
Giving other players the opportunity to play Grantham’s minutes won’t be hard to do. What will be hard is trying to replace what he does on the floor and all of the little things he does.
“It’s a tough one because he is a terrific player,” Brownell said. “He does way more than just the 14 points and 7 rebounds. He impacts our teams in a lot of things whether it is getting the ball and inbounding it, passing, driving, and facilitating. He was different than some of the players we play against so we had a slight advantage there in certain situations.”
Brownell was most upset that Grantham isn’t going to be able to finish what he started this year, especially after not his best junior season. Grantham’s one goal was to lead this team back to the NCAA tournament. He still has the opportunity to do so but from the sidelines.
“It’s affected our guys hard from the standpoint that we all love Donte,” Brownell said. “There is genuine care and concern and heartbreak for someone you love going through an unbelievably difficult situation…I told the team, ‘the season is going to go on and we still are more than capable to have a great year. That’s what Donte would want us to do.’ He didn’t pass away, he just has an injury.”
Where Clemson will mostly miss Grantham on the floor will be in areas you wouldn’t expect, like during a dead ball. The senior would usually corral the team together and get them ready for the next play. That’s something Brownell has noticed from the sideline is Grantham usually did a good job of settling guys down.
“When there is a free throw or the ball goes out of bounds, the players themselves are talking to each other on the floor. That’s where often times more meaningful conversations happen. Whether it’s encouragement, direction, one of them being commanding with one another, that’s the leadership that is necessary for all good teams.”
As for who will take Grantham’s spot on the floor, it’ll mostly be transfer David Skara and freshman Aamir Simms. Two players who Brownell said are more than capable of playing good basketball. You may also see some other players who don’t play very much in certain situations like Clyde Trapp.
Brownell used one word a ton Monday afternoon to describe Grantham and his team: Genuine.
Grantham’s personality will still be infectious in the locker room and on the sideline. The team has embraced his genuine spirit and that’s what Brownell said has made this team so great.
“That’s becoming more rare in our business,” Brownell added. “Everybody really caring about team. When you have a genuine leader who really cares about winning and team - (Grantham) literally is more happy for other people’s success than his own. That part is genuine, you don’t fake it. He does that all the time.
That’s why he easily became one of our leaders this year and why our locker room has taken on his personality. That’s why we are having a ton of success.”
The Tigers play Virginia Tuesday night at 7:00 PM.