As far as basketball goes the Tigers are not exactly the elite but they do have some talent and if Coach Cliff Ellis can find a few athletes that can compete with the Carolina schools on the perimeter there might be a chance for this team to jump into the top half of the league.

That is a big if however as the Tigers best guard sat out last year after an incredible freshman year and might not even be allowed back on the court this season. Junior Skip Wise is coming back to the pride after a year wandering through the streets of Baltimore with Omar Little and Bubbles and boy does this team need him.  Wise is a legend in Baltimore where he was THE streetball kind and also carried Dunbar High to ridiculous heights.  He chose Clemson over many suitors and was an All-League selection in his memorable first year here as he combines an incredible ability to get to the hoop with range that reaches to somewhere near the ATL.  Wise is a true combo guard who has size (somewhere between 6’2 and 6’4 depending on who you talk to) is just as adept feeding the big dogs (and there are many large mouths on this roster) or scoring himself and this street ball legend does this with style.  Where he plays (if he plays as he did play 3 games for the Baltimore Claws before they folded) and what role he will have is dependent on who is playing next to him and that is where the water gets murky for the Tigers.  Ellis will choose from several options in a crowded but underwhelming backcourt.  Senior Butch Zatezalo is a returning starter who has had a solid career for the Tigers but is vastly undersized at 5’11 and 160 pounds soaking wet.  More of a scorer than a point guard Zatezalo has only one chance of keeping his starting role and that is become more of a distributor.  He has the quicks to hang with anyone but like most Tiger guards is vertically challenged. Zatezalo could play next to the bigger Wise who contrary to most people’s beliefs on street players can defend but who knows if he is even going to be here. The sweet singing Ellis knows it takes a ‘village’ to build a team and thus has a ‘beach’ full of options.  Ellis has scorers in seniors Bill Yarborough, Choppy Paterson, Jim Sutherland, Jim Brennan, Vince Yockel and Johnny Snee but none of these guys have shown they are able to defend any of the athletic guards that dominate this league.  Sutherland has some size at 6’5 as but the rest are just too dang small for the ACC. Ellis’s  best bets are juniors Billy Williams and Stan ‘the Jungle’ Rome and Sophomore Vincent Hamilton if the Tigers have a chance of hanging with the Thompsons and Jordans of this league. Williams is 6’4 and both Rome and Hamilton are 6’5.  Williams almost assuredly will start and this non-switch hitting two guard showed last year he can play with the Big Dogs at least offensively.  If his defense improves the Tigers might have found their guy next to Wise.  Rome is big and strong (6’5 212) and is a physical beast who loves to battle with other athletic wings.  As a matter of fact Coach Dabo Swinney has tried to get the heavily recruited Pimp in the Box (Rome was a HS AA for Valdosta Georgia) to come over to the gridiron but for now Rome is staying put as Ellis has made it clear he loves this kid’s toughness and if he can improve his range a bit (he is the classic mid-range player who has got lost in the new world of basketball) will get plenty of minutes. Hamilton might even be more athletic than Rome but is coming off an injury that shortened his freshman year just when he was getting some minutes for the Tigers. Hamilton is a refugee from the North, Carolina that is, who will be in the mix for one of the back court openings and has a nice inside-out game and with few true wings on this roster has a chance of getting some real minutes. 

As a mess as the perimeter is for the Tigers the front line is not much better but for an entirely different reason. Up front the Tigers might have too much talent!  Really!  Ellis inherited a group that included one of the best shot blockers in the league in Junior Wayne ‘Tree’ Rollins and his more than capable backup in fellow junior John ‘’Moose’ Campbell.  Both of these guys are huge (Rollins goes 7’1) and tough with Rollins becoming the face (or more so name) of this program with his reputation of intimidation in the middle. Ellis also has an entire family of big men, literally!  The Mahaffey clan, from LaGrange Georgia, are legends around here with four brothers playing for the Tigers over the years.  Foremost of these is senior Randy Mahaffey who is in a battle for minutes with the new guys up front but this kid brings experience in the trenches and toughness though nowhere near the height as he only goes 6’7. Ellis has added much of that in his short time here bringing in a slew of candidates to play next to Rollins. Sophomores Larry Nance and Horace Grant will be battling for the starting job at the four.  These two extremely athletic forwards are as similar as they come both being a wiry 6’10 who are already terrific defenders.  Both can fly though Nance seems to fly higher than anyone including Rocky and their ability to block shots playing next to Rollins make this the most formidable interior defense in the ACC.  And that is saying something.  Fellow sophomore Elden Campbell is another big man pushing for minutes and might be better offensively than any of his three competitors. Campbell is 6’11 from Inglewood California (yes Lakerland) and has to get some minutes down low as he has a solid low post game and can run the court like a small forward.  Speaking of small forward the best option for Ellis might be to move one of these big men down to the three to get them all on the court.  The fact that the girth of the talent on this team is up front and the dearth of depth on the wings makes this proposition likely.  Nance would seem to be the best fit but adding to this problem (nice one to have most might say) is that Ellis has brought the biggest recruit in program history with 6’11 prodigy Sharone Wright from Macon Georgia amongst other solid first year big men.  Ellis has also emphasized point guards in his newest recruiting class but this is not exactly a Kansas City roadhouse as the wings here are neither plentiful nor juicy. 

The Clemson Tigers are much more known for their prowess on the football field than their skill on the basketball court but well-traveled coach Cliff Ellis wants to change that.  The Tigers do have reputation for dominating big men which Ellis seems to be able to actually increase with his latest recruits.  That surplus of extremely large big men has not been able to move the Tigers up the totem pole of the juggernaut that is the ACC.  The Tigers, even with all of their last place finishes on the court, are not in jeopardy of being expelled from this notorious league but they do have a challenger for their football supremacy with new bloods Florida State.  The Seminoles and Tigers have a unique connection with legendary Coach Bobby Bowden’s son Tommy taking over Clemson for a few years and they played a game deemed the ‘Bowden Bowl.’  Tommy is gone now from and I am sure Bobby will be wanting revenge so those games will be must see but the Seminoles have helped the Tigers in one huge way.  Their existence in the ACC might just keep Clemson out of the cellar in the basketball standings.  At least he prognosticators think so as the Tigers are picked 8th and Seminoles are 9th in preseason polls.  If that turns out to be true these two ‘heavyweights’ will be playing for a third time (yes, the ACC has a quote playing game between the 8th and 9th teams now that they are 9 team league) and this burgeoning rivalry on the football field might just carry over onto the court.  And I don’t think anybody, especially the powers to be in the ACC, would mind that!