Clemson names new head coach - Brad Brownell

[Dukegbw3]

Clemson just named their new head coach - Brad Brownell, head coach at Wright State and former UNC-Wilmington head coach. Seems like a program like Clemson could have gotten a better name, but then again guy's got a good track record and names don't always mean anything. Guess we'll see.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13207467/wright-states-brownell-reaches-agreement-for-clemson-job

[killerleft]

Clemson just named their new head coach - Brad Brownell, head coach at Wright State and former UNC-Wilmington head coach. Seems like a program like Clemson could have gotten a better name, but then again guy's got a good track record and names don't always mean anything. Guess we'll see.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13207467/wright-states-brownell-reaches-agreement-for-clemson-job

Think Krzyzewski, Mike. Think worse track record for Mike.

[pamtar]

Great pick, IMO. I can remember the Brownell days when we actually talked about basketball at UNCW. He got us one shot away from one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history.

[tdrake51]

I actually attend Wright State and am very familiar with Brownell. His programs revolve around high pressure, half court defense and patient, motion offense. Our offense often relied on shooting threes late in the shot clock. He's a pretty good recruiter but has failed to recruit anything resembling a post player out of high school, some of this may have to do with Wright State's name recognition. Oh and by the way, our biggest rival is Butler... figured I would throw that in.

[superdave]

Congrats to Clemson. Perhaps Brownell can get over the hump that Purnell could not.

[vango]

This is a great hire. This guy coached at UNCW and lived down the street from me here in Wilmington. Great guy, dedicated, smart. The AD at UNCW got rid of him and all he did was go to little Wright State and win while UNCW has taken up shop in the CAA cellar, after two trips to the NCAA, fired a coach, and is looking again.

Hope he wins every game except vs. Duke. Should be a real plus for the conference.

[Olympic Fan]

Great hire ... I'm shocked that Brownell wasn't Wake's target. I consider Wake a much better job than Clemson ...

and I consider Brownell a much, MUCH better hire than Ron Wellman's old buddy.

[Big Pappa]

Congrats to Clemson. Perhaps Brownell can get over the hump that Purnell could not.

He just needs to win a tourney game to do that.

[theAlaskanBear]

Great hire ... I'm shocked that Brownell wasn't Wake's target. I consider Wake a much better job than Clemson ...

and I consider Brownell a much, MUCH better hire than Ron Wellman's old buddy.

Yeah, I think even Charlotte's hire, taking a top assistant from Ohio St is better than hiring Bzdelik.

Of course, I wish them all, especially Brownell the best of luck against non-Duke foes!

[Olympic Fan]

The ACC has added three new coaches in the last week or so. Let me summarize the hires:

Boston College: Steve Donohue ... age 47 ... career record 146-138 ... three 20-win seasons (all at Cornell) ... three regular season conference championships ... NCAA Tournament record 2-3

Clemson: Brad Brownell ... age 42 ... career record 167-85 ... six 20-win seasons (at UNC W and Wright State) ... three regular season championships ... 0-3 NCAA Record

Wake Forest: Jeff Bzdelik... age 57 ... career record 107-104 ... two 20-win seasons (both at Air Force) ... no regular season (or tournament) championships) ... 0-1 NCAA record

Summary: Brownell is the youngest and the most successful of the three newcomers ... Donohue built a great team at Cornell (a place where nobody wins) and turned in three increasingly impressive seasons -- culiminating in this year's Sweet 16.

Bzdelik is by far the oldest of three three and has by far the least accomplished in the college ranks. In seven seasons as a head coach, he's had two winning seasons (both with Joe Scott's players at Air Force -- the program collapsed when he left).

Bzdelik does have a little over two years as a head coach in Denver with the NBA on his resume. The team did improve under his guidence, although most NBA observers credit that to the team's GM, who added Carmelo Anthony and Nene. He was fired in his third season and the team has actually improved since he left.

Just MHO, but I'd rate the Clemson hire a B+, the BC hire a sold B and the Wake Forest hire a D-.

[JasonEvans]

Well, Wake has not hired Bzdelik yet. They are certainly getting a lot of negative press about it and I imagine many of the fans are letting the AD know they think this is a horrible idea.

Now, it is possible (probable?) that Ron Wellman thinks he is smarter than everyone else an he will go ahead and hire Bzdelik despite all the folks saying it is a bad idea, but maybe he will get smart and move onto someone else.

-Jason "I doubt it -- Wake's hire is clearly 3rd best by a lot this season" Evans

[OldPhiKap]

Gee, Clemson hires a successful mid-major coach and hopes that he will bring the team to prominence in the ACC.

Of course, the resume of Ollie Purnell was similar:

Radford 44-42
Old Dominion 57-33
Dayton 155-116, 2 NCAA appearances.

Or a 256-190 record before Clemson, with an impressive 212-149 record at two very good programs (ODU and Dayton). Plus, he was an assistant for Lefty D. at Md and had some familiarity with the league.

I think I've seen this movie before, and the sequel is often worse than the original.

[mgtr]

Amazing how some teams manage to go from the frying pan to the fire.

[JasonEvans]

OldPhiKap and mgtr --

It is worth noting that Clemson did not want to be rid of Oliver Purnell. He was not fired. If they have gone after someone who seems mildly similar in terms of his resume, that may be a credit to how they felt about Purnell's coaching ability.

--Jason "I think this will go down as the best hire this year in the ACC" Evans

[34dukegal]

OldPhiKap and mgtr --

It is worth noting that Clemson did not want to be rid of Oliver Purnell. He was not fired. If they have gone after someone who seems mildly similar in terms of his resume, that may be a credit to how they felt about Purnell's coaching ability.

--Jason "I think this will go down as the best hire this year in the ACC" Evans

I was at UNCW when Brownell was coaching, he did an excellent job and you never heard anything but good things about him. The way he left was awful (not his fault at all) and UNCW is still reeling from it.

I'm excited to see what he can do with Clemson, would love to see him break that UNC streak!

[OldPhiKap]

OldPhiKap and mgtr --

It is worth noting that Clemson did not want to be rid of Oliver Purnell. He was not fired. If they have gone after someone who seems mildly similar in terms of his resume, that may be a credit to how they felt about Purnell's coaching ability.

--Jason "I think this will go down as the best hire this year in the ACC" Evans

Jason, I agree with both your point and your signature line. I was going more towards the latter than the former with my post.

I was always impressed with Purnell and thought he would turn Clemson around. Just couldn't do it. I think it is a graveyard for coaches. Clemson has a beautiful campus, but it is and always will be a Football school. (Capital "F", small "s"). Even if Purnell had stayed, they would in all likelihood continue to eat up cupcakes during the pre-conference schedule and then stuggle around .500 in the league. In a good year.

[Klemnop]

Jason, I agree with both your point and your signature line. I was going more towards the latter than the former with my post.

I was always impressed with Purnell and thought he would turn Clemson around. Just couldn't do it. I think it is a graveyard for coaches. Clemson has a beautiful campus, but it is and always will be a Football school. (Capital "F", small "s"). Even if Purnell had stayed, they would in all likelihood continue to eat up cupcakes during the pre-conference schedule and then stuggle around .500 in the league. In a good year.

OldPhiKap -

This is the second post in this thread by you that gives a backhanded compliment to Purnell and Clemson - so let me give you some Clemson perspective:

Purnell DID turn Clemson around. I measure basketball success at Clemson differently than my Duke friends do so that may be why you perceive that Purnell left something unfinished in Tiger Town. From 1999-2008 Clemson missed 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments. Excepting 2007 (where a couple of horrid collapses in the last month of the season cost them a bid) they were never even close. The program was the definition of "irrelevant." What Purnell inherited from Larry Shyatt was embarassing.

Purnell built the program from scratch, the right way...perhaps the only way you can at a place like Clemson. He recruited good kids, good athletes, somewhat marginal basketball players. Our success was built on the heart of kids like Cliff Hammonds and KC Rivers - a lot more than the talent those kids possessed. Along with the raw athleticism of guys like James Mays and Trevor Booker.

In the last three years Purnell acheived: three consecutive NCAA appearances (1st ever at Clemson), three consecutive winning ACC records (1st ever at Clemson), the 3rd best conference record over the last three years behind Duke and Carolina and a trip to the ACC Tourney Finals (2nd time ever). If you (or anyone else) doesn't think Purnell "turned the program around"...you're wrong. Of course he failed to capitalize on these successes by wining an NCAA game and I'm sure that's the measure by which he is viewed as having failed.

Your assertions are also just wrong. In the last four years (as the quality of the program progressed) Clemson had stopped feasting entirely on pre-conference cupcakes. The program you're thinking of is Virginia Tech (and I understand how easy it is to confuse us)...as the NCAA Selection Cmte clearly valued Clemson's pre-conference games with Texas A&M, Butler, Illinois and South Carolina favorably. Also, for everyone who doesn't drift in the exalted air of ACC/NCAA Supremacy, a 9-7 ACC record is cause for celebration.

For me, having been a die-hard since my enrollment in the fall of 1988 (some 20 years, now), I can tell you that I could care less about the NCAA losses. Sure, they sting. But I can tell you it stings 100 times worse to sit through the entire month of February knowing you won't be participating at all. It stings worse to not even want to turn on the Selection Show or open the Monday paper the day after and look at brackets. It hurts to lose. It hurts a lot worse to not even be a part.

Purnell surely had his limitations as a Coach. His absolute resistance to pull of the press. His absolute resistance to use zone. His lack of imagination for half-court offense.

On the plus side: He ran a clean program. He was president of the NABC. He was a terrific emmisarry for Clemson University (and, dare I say it, a high profile African American representative.) He was our coach. And he brought us sustained success.

I think Brad Brownell will have a very difficult time living up to the legacy that Oliver Purnell left behind. Because Purnell DID turn Clemson around. Cliff Ellis and Larry Shyatt aren't the bar to jump over anymore. An occasional flash-in-the-pan good team isn't acceptable. Purnell made winning the expectation and not the exception.

This morning, one week later, I'm still saddened to have lost Purnell from the Clemson family.

Klem

P.S. - I'm not sure how to read your small "s" Football school comment? Is that a knock on Clemson as an academic institution? I hope not. That would be the worst kind of gratuitous demeaning that Duke fans get a (mostly) undeserved rap for.

[OldPhiKap]

OldPhiKap -

This is the second post in this thread by you that gives a backhanded compliment to Purnell and Clemson - so let me give you some Clemson perspective:

Purnell DID turn Clemson around. I measure basketball success at Clemson differently than my Duke friends do so that may be why you perceive that Purnell left something unfinished in Tiger Town. From 1999-2008 Clemson missed 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments. Excepting 2007 (where a couple of horrid collapses in the last month of the season cost them a bid) they were never even close. The program was the definition of "irrelevant." What Purnell inherited from Larry Shyatt was embarassing.

Purnell built the program from scratch, the right way...perhaps the only way you can at a place like Clemson. He recruited good kids, good athletes, somewhat marginal basketball players. Our success was built on the heart of kids like Cliff Hammonds and KC Rivers - a lot more than the talent those kids possessed. Along with the raw athleticism of guys like James Mays and Trevor Booker.

In the last three years Purnell acheived: three consecutive NCAA appearances (1st ever at Clemson), three consecutive winning ACC records (1st ever at Clemson), the 3rd best conference record over the last three years behind Duke and Carolina and a trip to the ACC Tourney Finals (2nd time ever). If you (or anyone else) doesn't think Purnell "turned the program around"...you're wrong. Of course he failed to capitalize on these successes by wining an NCAA game and I'm sure that's the measure by which he is viewed as having failed.

Your assertions are also just wrong. In the last four years (as the quality of the program progressed) Clemson had stopped feasting entirely on pre-conference cupcakes. The program you're thinking of is Virginia Tech (and I understand how easy it is to confuse us)...as the NCAA Selection Cmte clearly valued Clemson's pre-conference games with Texas A&M, Butler, Illinois and South Carolina favorably. Also, for everyone who doesn't drift in the exalted air of ACC/NCAA Supremacy, a 9-7 ACC record is cause for celebration.

For me, having been a die-hard since my enrollment in the fall of 1988 (some 20 years, now), I can tell you that I could care less about the NCAA losses. Sure, they sting. But I can tell you it stings 100 times worse to sit through the entire month of February knowing you won't be participating at all. It stings worse to not even want to turn on the Selection Show or open the Monday paper the day after and look at brackets. It hurts to lose. It hurts a lot worse to not even be a part.

Purnell surely had his limitations as a Coach. His absolute resistance to pull of the press. His absolute resistance to use zone. His lack of imagination for half-court offense.

On the plus side: He ran a clean program. He was president of the NABC. He was a terrific emmisarry for Clemson University (and, dare I say it, a high profile African American representative.) He was our coach. And he brought us sustained success.

I think Brad Brownell will have a very difficult time living up to the legacy that Oliver Purnell left behind. Because Purnell DID turn Clemson around. Cliff Ellis and Larry Shyatt aren't the bar to jump over anymore. An occasional flash-in-the-pan good team isn't acceptable. Purnell made winning the expectation and not the exception.

This morning, one week later, I'm still saddened to have lost Purnell from the Clemson family.

Klem

P.S. - I'm not sure how to read your small "s" Football school comment? Is that a knock on Clemson as an academic institution? I hope not. That would be the worst kind of gratuitous demeaning that Duke fans get a (mostly) undeserved rap for.

Thanks for your perspective, Klem. To be clear (in case I have not been), I have high regard for Purnell and have absolutely no question about his integrity or the program he ran. My expectation was that he would bring Clemson to a point where it was a consistent threat in the NCAA. I do not follow the team as closely as you, though, and if I have overgeneralized or focused on different criteria I apologize. I thought he would take the team further than he did, but again reasonable minds can differ.

-- OPK


P.S. As far as the Big "F", small "s" comment, it was meant as a reflection of the preeminence of Football over all else amongst many of the IPTAY crowd. It was meant to emphasize the F. I have family and friends who have gone to Clemson and would be happy to have my kids go there if that is what they choose. Which is why I know Clemson is different than VTech. ;>)

[Klemnop]

Thanks for your perspective, Klem. To be clear (in case I have not been), I have high regard for Purnell and have absolutely no question about his integrity or the program he ran. My expectation was that he would bring Clemson to a point where it was a consistent threat in the NCAA. I do not follow the team as closely as you, though, and if I have overgeneralized or focused on different criteria I apologize. I thought he would take the team further than he did, but again reasonable minds can differ.

-- OPK


P.S. As far as the Big "F", small "s" comment, it was meant as a reflection of the preeminence of Football over all else amongst many of the IPTAY crowd. It was meant to emphasize the F. I have family and friends who have gone to Clemson and would be happy to have my kids go there if that is what they choose. Which is why I know Clemson is different than VTech. ;>)

Appreciate the clarification. I'm a bit raw/sensitive to the trauma of the last week. You go to bed one night with your world in a certain order and when you wake up the next morning it's completely obliterated.

There's certainly room for improvement in the program at Clemson. But after a (seeming) lifetime of ineptitude we had finally arrived at a place of consistent/sustained success.

My aspirations are now with Coach Brownell. Here's hoping he can find both success and longevity at Clemson.

Klem

[OldPhiKap]

Appreciate the clarification. I'm a bit raw/sensitive to the trauma of the last week. You go to bed one night with your world in a certain order and when you wake up the next morning it's completely obliterated.

There's certainly room for improvement in the program at Clemson. But after a (seeming) lifetime of ineptitude we had finally arrived at a place of consistent/sustained success.

My aspirations are now with Coach Brownell. Here's hoping he can find both success and longevity at Clemson.

Klem

If it helps, I would love for the battle for ACC supremacy in the upcoming decade to be between Duke and Clemson. Oh, and I hope he gets that elusive win in Chapel Hill next year -- in a romp.

I had a chance to see a Duke-Clemson game in the remodeled Littlejohn a few years ago. Duke squeeked it out at the end. A very impressive and imposing atmosphere.

And, of course, one of the prettiest views of Lake Hartwell is from the North end of Death Valley.