CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson coach Brad Brownell waited at the Toronto airport after the 13th-ranked Tigers’ latest victory, watching nine of his players acting like a middle-school team, smiling, laughing and bonding despite a delayed flight home.
“That’s part of our secret sauce,” Brownell said.
The secret is out these days as Clemson (9-0) is off to its best start since opening 16-0 in 2008-09 and among seven undefeated teams left in college basketball.
“Every time you start a season, there’s a new voice in the room,” Brownell said. “They’ve done a good job of listening to each other, trusting each other and playing good basketball.”
Especially away from home where the Tigers have already won five times, including resume building victories at then-No. 23 Alabama (85-77), at ACC rival Pitt (79-70) and in Canada against TCU (74-66). The travels continue this weekend at Memphis, where Clemson hopes to continue its perfect start.
The success has the Tigers riding high and digging in even more.
“After wins, guys are coming in the next day, lifting, dancing, with good vibes,” starting forward Ian Schieffelin said. “We know every game is going to be a challenge, especially on the road. But we believe in each other.”
Clemson players believed in each other last season while going 23-11 and posting their most ever Atlantic Coast Conference victories in a season in tying for third in the league at 14-6. But stumbles in the early season shuffled them out of the NCAA Tournament.
It was a devastating decision for the Tigers last March and it left Brownell, his staff and his players numb, particularly after seeing ACC programs in Pitt and North Carolina State — Clemson was 4-0 combined over those two schools a season ago — get selected to the Big Dance.
The snub lingered into the NIT, where top-seeded Clemson was beaten at home in the first round by Morehead State to close a stellar year with a disappointing finish.
“There was immediate hurt for a time,” Brownell said. “Eventually, when we got to the summer and you got your new team back there was certainly some noise from guys on the team who’d been through it.”
Schieffelin and the veterans like leading scorer PJ Hall and senior point guard Chase Hunter didn’t want to leave the question of their NCAA worth in anyone’s hands but their own. And they haven’t in the quick start, standing 11th in the latest NET rankings with three Quad 1 victories after having just four such wins all of last season.
“It was a lot of fuel during the summer,” Schieffelin said. “Not wanting that feeling ever again.”
Brownell said midway through the summer his message changed to relying on each other and not the past.
The Tigers have called on those memories to pull out victories they might not have in years past. They trailed UAB on Nov. 11 before Hunter’s two foul shots with 3.6 seconds left lifted them to a 77-76 win. They trailed Davidson by 18 points a game later, yet pulled out a 68-65 victory.
Clemson was down to Southeastern Conference opponents in the Crimson Tide and state rival South Carolina before rallying for victories.
Hall leads the team with 20.5 points a game. Second is Syracuse transfer Joe Girard III, who is averaging 14.4 points and has 25 3-pointers on a team that struggled at times with its outside shooting.
Brownell likes his team’s resiliency and poise, no matter how far behind its been in games.
“I do think we have a group that loves each other and cares for each other deeply,” said Brownell, who has won a program best 250 games in 14 seasons as Clemson coach. “I think we have really good human beings on our team.”
The blend has the Tigers clicking at a perfect pace.
