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Clemson Hires Brad Brownell

Clemson has hired former Wright State coach Brad Brownell to replace Oliver Purnell. Brownell coached at UNC-Wilmington before Wright State. He has enjoyed a fairly good deal of success in both positions. Per the Greenville Herald:

Brownell went 84-45 in four years at Wright State. He led the Raiders to a 20-12 record last year, including 12-6 in the Horizon League. Wright State lost to NCAA tournament runner-up Butler in the conference championship game.

 

Before arriving at Wright State, Brownell coached UNC-Wilmington and went 83-40 in four seasons.

Brownell isn't the sexy hire some Tigers fans were hoping for, but he's known as a good Xs and Os guy that had success coaching up mid-major talent. Shakin the Southland tentatively likes the move:

He's young, and is known as a pretty good X's and O's coach, and if he brought in the right staffers to recruit into Atlanta I think I would support this hire by TDP. He runs a 3-2 motion set with man/man defense and a bit of 2-3 zone to mix it up. He runs his 3-2 with the PF/C in the high post, perfect for Milton Jennings. Damien Leonard would fit his offense perfectly as well. I doubt his scheme would be a huge adjustment for our players and we could possibly win immediately with it.

As STS indicates, the big question for Brownell is whether or not he can recruit with the big boys, something he never had to do at previous positions. If he can, he'll do well, but if not, the Tigers' program should fall back out of the upper tier of the ACC. We don't know enough about him now to know what the case will be. Whatever it may be, I hope Darrin Horn is ready to put a stranglehold on in-state recruiting during any transition period that may occur in the Upstate.