Check out our entire college basketball season preview!
The college basketball season is less than two weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. We will be previewing each team from all of the major conferences along with some mid-majors as well. We will recap betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season and talk about any key players for that program.
The ACC is home to some of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball. Lately, the Final Four champion has come out of the Big East or the Big 12 but the ACC has a great chance to reclaim the title of the best conference in CBB. There has been an influx of talent via the transfer portal, good old-fashioned recruiting and the additions of SMU, Stanford and Cal.
Let’s take a look at the Clemson Tigers.
2024-25 College Basketball Season Preview: Clemson Tigers
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Brad Brownell (15th season)
2023-2024 Record: 24-12
ATS: 20-15-1
O/U: 18-18
Projected Starters: G Jaeden Zackery, G Chase Hunter, F Chauncy Wiggins, F Ian Schieffelin, C Viktor Lakhin
Fresh off of an Elite Eight appearance, the Clemson Tigers will look to build their basketball pedigree with another 20-plus-win season and postseason appearance. That’s easier said than done when you lose your best player to the NBA though. For the first time in four, years the Tigers will be without the services of PJ Hall. He averaged over 18 PPG last season, and 15-PPG scorer Joe Girard has also exhausted his eligibility. That is two important pieces to replace, but Brownell and his staff did a fairly good job of adding the right players to their system.
Myles Foster (12.4 PPG at Illinois State), Jaeden Zackery (11.3 PPG at BC), Viktor Lakhin (9.2 PPG at Cincy) are joining the team and former Air Force transfer Jake Heidbreder is ready after redshirting last season. The returning nucleus of Chase Hunter, Ian Schieffelin, Dillon Hunter and Chauncy Wiggins is also quite good. The staff also signed the No. 20 recruiting class in the country with freshmen Dallas Thomas, Del Jones and Ace Buckner coming in.
Key Player: Ian Schieffelin
Schieffelin did a nice job sliding into the Hunter Tyson role last year which led to season averages of 10.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 2.2 APG which was very nearly double the production from the prior year. He was top 50 in offensive rating, effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage and defensive rebounding rate. He knocked down almost 47% of his three-pointers on 49 attempts and they’ll be looking for him to take more shots with PJ Hall gone.
The addition of Viktor Lakhin helps a lot, because it will make it tough for opposing defenses to deal with when they’re both on the floor. Both are elite rebounders and will feed off each other when it comes to their offense. Ian will be one of the more reliable peripheral stat-getters in the ACC and someone that I consider to be an ideal player to bet props on.
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