# 2019–20 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team represented Clemson University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers were led by tenth-year head coach Brad Brownell and played their home games at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
On January 11, 2020, Clemson defeated North Carolina 79–76 in overtime to win their first ever game in Chapel Hill in program history. Entering the game, the Tar Heels had been 59–0 at home against the Tigers, which was an NCAA record for longest win streak by one team at home versus one opponent.
The Tigers finished the season 16–15, and 9–11 in ACC play. The team was scheduled to play Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2018–19 season 20–14, 9–9 in ACC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the ACC tournament to NC State. They received an at-large bid to the NIT where they defeated Wright State before losing to Wichita State in the second round.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

Clemson fired assistant coach Steve Smith, for comments made on FBI wire tap in relation to the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal. As a replacement, Clemson hired Anthony Goins.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Marcquise Reed | 2 | G | 6'3" | 189 | Senior | Landover, MD | Graduated |
| Lyles Davis | 3 | G | 5'11" | 160 | Senior | Charleston, SC | Walk-on; graduated |
| Shelton Mitchell | 4 | G | 6'3" | 194 | Senior | Waxhaw, NC | Graduated |
| Elijah Thomas | 14 | F | 6'9" | 237 | Senior | Lancaster, TX | Graduated |
| Malik William | 20 | F | 6'8" | 226 | Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Transferred to Southern Illinois |
| Anthony Oliver II | 21 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Sophomore | Clemson, SC | Mid season transferred to Old Dominion |
| Javan White | 35 | F | 6'10" | 230 | GS Senior | Ames, IA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Nick Honor | 4 | G | 5'10" | 190 | Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Transferred from Fordham. Under NCAA transfer rules, Honor will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Curran Scott | 10 | G | 6'4" | 208 | Senior | Edmond, OK | Transferred from Tulsa. Will be eligible to play immediately since Scott graduated from Tulsa. |
| Tevin Mack | 13 | G/F | 6'7" | 223 | Senior | Columbia, SC | Transferred from Alabama. Will be eligible to play immediately since Mack graduated from Alabama. |
| Khavon Moore | 21 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Sophomore | Macon, GA | Transferred from Texas Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Moore will have to sit out the 2019–20 season, but was granted a waiver to play immediately. |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Al-Amir Dawes PG | Newark, NJ | The Patrick School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Oct 11, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Chase Hunter SG | Atlanta, GA | Westlake High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 22, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Alex Hemenway SG | Newburgh, IN | Castle High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 4, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 43 Rivals: 70 ESPN: NA ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Clemson Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019. "2019 Clemson Basketball Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019. "Clemson Tigers". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019. ||||||

### World University Games

On August 15, 2018 it was announced that Clemson would represent Team USA in men's basketball at the 2019 Summer Universiade (World University Games) in Naples, Italy. The Tigers competed from July 3–11, 2019 in a 16 team, 4 pool qualification followed by two 8 team brackets - one to determine 1st-8th place, the second determining 9th-16th place.
Clemson, as Team USA, was placed in Pool C with China, Finland, and Ukraine. The Tigers would go 3–0 in pool play to qualify for the 1st-8th classification bracket. Clemson would then proceed to go 3–0 in the main bracket to go undefeated for the tournament and capture the gold medal, giving the United States its 15th gold medal in men's basketball at the event.
* July 4 - USA 69, Finland 65 (pool C)
* July 5 - USA 58, Ukraine 57 (pool C)
* July 6 - USA 99, China 70 (pool C)
* July 8 - USA 76, Germany 74 (quarterfinal)
* July 9 - USA 75, Israel 73 (semifinal)
* July 11 - USA 85, Ukraine 63 (gold-medal game)

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Anderson | W 75–48 | – | 16 – Simms | 10 – Simms | 3 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Virginia Tech | L 60–67 | 0–1 (0–1) | 15 – Newman III | 15 – Simms | 2 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,500) Clemson, SC |
| November 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCN | | Presbyterian | W 79–45 | 1–1 | 16 – Newman III | 8 – Simms | 4 – Hunter | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,713) Clemson, SC |
| November 10, 2019* 3:00 pm, ACCNX | | Colgate | W 81–68 | 2–1 | 17 – Mack | 9 – Mack | 4 – Dawes | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,673) Clemson, SC |
| November 17, 2019* 3:00 pm, ACCNX | | Detroit Mercy MGM Resorts Main Event Campus Site Game | W 87–65 | 3–1 | 20 – Tyson | 8 – Simms | 6 – Dawes | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,804) Clemson, SC |
| November 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCNX | | Alabama A&M | W 87–51 | 4–1 | 19 – Dawes | 9 – Tyson | 4 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,616) Clemson, SC |
| November 24, 2019* 10:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. TCU MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight semifinals | W 62–60 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | 22 – Mack | 12 – Simms | 7 – Simms | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 26, 2019* 11:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 21 Colorado MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight championship game | L 67–71 | 5–2 | 23 – Simms | 9 – Mack | 6 – Dawes | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| December 2, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Minnesota ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 60–78 | 5–3 | 12 – Tyson | 6 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Williams Arena (10,148) Minneapolis, MN |
| December 8, 2019 2:00 pm, ACCN | | at No. 17 Florida State | L 53–72 | 5–4 (0–2) | 14 – Mack | 4 – 3 tied | 3 – Dawes | Donald L. Tucker Center (7,834) Tallahassee, FL |
| December 15, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | South Carolina Rivalry | L 54–67 | 5–5 | 21 – Simms | 8 – Simms | 5 – Dawes | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,394) Clemson, SC |
| December 20, 2019* 9:00 pm, ACCN | | Jacksonville | W 68–39 | 6–5 | 18 – Simms | 11 – Mack | 4 – Dawes | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,632) Clemson, SC |
| December 22, 2019* 4:00 pm, ACCN | | Yale | L 45–54 | 6–6 | 11 – Tyson | 7 – Simms | 1 – 4 tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,632) Clemson, SC |
| December 31, 2019 4:00 pm, ACCN | | Miami (FL) | L 68–73 $^{OT}$ | 6–7 (0–3) | 21 – Simms | 8 – Simms | 4 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (5,549) Clemson, SC |
| January 4, 2020 12:00 pm, ACCN | | NC State | W 81–70 | 7–7 (1–3) | 17 – Simms | 7 – Mack | 5 – Simms | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,908) Clemson, SC |
| January 11, 2020 4:30 pm, ACCRSN | | at North Carolina | W 79–76 $^{OT}$ | 8–7 (2–3) | 20 – Simms | 8 – Simms | 6 – Simms | Dean Smith Center (21,077) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 14, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 3 Duke | W 79–72 | 9–7 (3–3) | 25 – Simms | 9 – Simms | 5 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (8,494) Clemson, SC |
| January 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at NC State | L 54–60 | 9–8 (3–4) | 18 – Simms | 11 – Simms | 4 – Scott | PNC Arena (16,553) Raleigh, NC |
| January 21, 2020 8:00 pm, ACCN | | Wake Forest | W 71–68 | 10–8 (4–4) | 21 – Tyson | 8 – Trapp | 4 – Trapp | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,951) Clemson, SC |
| January 25, 2020 2:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at No. 6 Louisville | L 62–80 | 10–9 (4–5) | 11 – Trapp | 8 – Mack | 5 – Simms | KFC Yum! Center (17,654) Louisville, KY |
| January 28, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Syracuse | W 71–70 | 11–9 (5–5) | 32 – Mack | 10 – Mack | 6 – Trapp | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,402) Clemson, SC |
| February 1, 2020 8:00 pm, ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 44–56 | 11–10 (5–6) | 14 – Simms | 8 – Simms | 4 – Newman III | LJVM Coliseum (7,113) Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at Virginia | L 44–51 | 11–11 (5–7) | 16 – Simms | 8 – Dawes | 3 – Newman III | John Paul Jones Arena (13,580) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 9, 2020 6:00 pm, ACCN | | Notre Dame | L 57–61 | 11–12 (5–8) | 16 – Tied | 7 – Jemison | 4 – Trapp | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,472) Clemson, SC |
| February 12, 2020 9:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at Pittsburgh | W 72–52 | 12–12 (6–8) | 18 – Dawes | 9 – Mack | 5 – 3 tied | Petersen Events Center (7,530) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 15, 2020 4:00 pm, ACCN | | No. 5 Louisville | W 77–62 | 13–12 (7–8) | 23 – Newman III | 9 – Trapp | 6 – Simms | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,146) Clemson, SC |
| February 22, 2020 6:00 pm, ACCN | | at Boston College | W 82–64 | 14–12 (8–8) | 22 – Dawes | 11 – Simms | 4 – Tied | Conte Forum (6,431) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| February 25, 2020 9:00 pm, ACCN | | at Georgia Tech | L 59–68 | 14–13 (8–9) | 23 – Simms | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | McCamish Pavilion (4,763) Atlanta, GA |
| February 29, 2019 2:00 pm, ACCRSN | | No. 6 Florida State | W 70–69 | 15–13 (9–9) | 18 – Newman III | 8 – Simms | 4 – Dawes | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,095) Clemson, SC |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCN | | at Virginia Tech | L 58–70 | 15–14 (9–10) | 12 – Mack | 6 – Mack | 4 – Newman III | Cassell Coliseum (8,901) Blacksburg, VA |
| March 6, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Georgia Tech | L 62–65 | 15–15 (9–11) | 19 – Mack | 8 – Simms | 4 – Trapp | Littlejohn Coliseum (8,188) Clemson, SC |
| ACC Men's tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2020 12:00 p.m., ESPN | (8) | vs. (9) Miami (FL) Second round | W 69–64 | 16–15 | 18 – Dawes | 10 – Simms | 4 – Simms | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| March 12, 2020 12:30 p.m., ESPN | (8) | vs. (1) No. 4 Florida State Quarterfinals | ACC Tournament Canceled | ACC Tournament Canceled | ACC Tournament Canceled | ACC Tournament Canceled | ACC Tournament Canceled | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.