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 prior to 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
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)
Roster
Schedule and results Source:
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season
!colspan=12 style=|ACC Men's tournament
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.
See also 2019–20 Clemson Tigers women's basketball team
References