Our Mission:
It is evident that the Clemson Basketball Team has not lived up to the standards of excellence that is prevalent in the rest of Clemson University. Our mission is to provide information as to how Clemson can improve the basketball team and why it is important to the University and students that the basketball program be improved.
Trailer for Presentation on April 25th. Daniel Room 207 3:30 p.m.
Clemson's Past Success in the March Madness Tournament
Clemson's Men's Basketball Team has been to the March Madness Tournament 11 times, posting an overall 9-11 record. The team has not been to the tournament since 2011.
From 2008-2011 the Clemson Basketball made the March Madness Tournament. In all four years the team was beaten in the first round.
The furthest the team has made it in the tournament was in 1980 when the team advanced to the Regional Final (Elite Eight). The team was defeated by UCLA, 85-74.
The next furthest the team made it in the tournament was in 1997 when the team advanced to the Regional Semifinal (Sweet Sixteen). Clemson was defeated by Minnesota 90-84.
Meanwhile, the Clemson Football team just won the National Championship over Alabama. This is not a surprise by any means as the Clemson Football team was in the National Championship last year as well but fell just short of winning it all.
While Clemson Football constructed a 55 million dollar state of the art practice facility, Clemson Basketball has long lived in the shadow of the Football team.
This is evident in the comparison of the top 25 rankings for basketball and football over the past 15 years. Since Brad Brownell became the head coach in 2010, Clemson's basketball team has never reached the AP top 25. To put this into perspective, the football has only been left out of the top 25 one time since 2003, in Dabo Swinney's second year as a head coach (2010).
It is time for a change in plans with the teams future, and maybe a change in coaching considering Brownell isn't the greatest "in-game-coach." Although the school extended Brownell's contract until the 2021 season, it is not out of the question to be actively looking for a new coach to bring the team to an elite level.
The Beautiful Littlejohn Coliseum
Student apathy toward the Clemson Basketball team is a major problem that needs to be addressed because if the team actually has fans to play for, then there will be increased motivation for success.
Solutions to Improve Student Attendance
1. IMPROVE THE TEAM: The improvement of the team will give the students a reason to come because everyone likes to see their team win, but nobody wants to see their team lose.
2. MARKET THE GAMES BETTER: Students need to be notified of games, especially big games. Emails were sent out to market the games and inform the students but that is not good enough. Possible ways to advertise for the games include passing out flyers on Library Bridge, writing on store windows (as they did for football games), etc.
Improve Recruitment
Zion Williamson Clemson Recruitment Video
It is important for Clemson Basketball to continue to aggressively recruit superstar players like Zion Williamson because it will get students excited about coming to basketball games to watch the superstars play.
Reasons to Improve the Clemson Basketball Team
- The ultimate reason that the Clemson Basketball team should improve is the fact that it would grow the school. The recent success of the football team has grown the school immensely. The increased applications received by the school has caused admission to become more competitive, only allowing Clemson to accept the most competitive and outstanding applicants. If BOTH football and basketball were to be elite, then the school could grow and improve even more.
- Increased revenue. The more people who spend money on tickets for basketball games and money at basketball games, the more money that the school can generate.
- Promoting Excellence.