Clemson Basketball: Clyde Trapp injury dampens Tigers’ 2019-20 hopes

Clyde Trapp was supposed to be a breakout player for Clemson Basketball next season. With him suffering a serious injury, can the Tigers recover?

After 20 wins and a trip to the NIT, Clemson Basketball has gone through a roster overhaul this offseason. Four of the team’s top five scorers have graduated leaving just two players who scored at least 6.0 ppg. One of them was sophomore Clyde Trapp, who saw an increased role last season.

He averaged 24 mpg last season with seven starts, providing solid backup to Marcquise Reed and Shelton Mitchell. Trapp shot just 40% from the field but showed that he was capable of doing more given more minutes, evident by the seven double-digit scoring outputs. The 6’4 guard is a good defender with a decent perimeter shot and looks to be one of those traditional players who gets better after each college season.

Clemson was planning on relying on Trapp for a starting role on the perimeter next season. He knows head coach Brad Brownell’s system and isn’t a ball dominant player by any means. Trapp was considered on the shortlist of potential “ACC breakout” players for the 2019-20 season. That was, until a devastating ACL injury occur in late June.

It’s a tough blow for both the player and the team. There’s a very strong chance that Trapp will be out for the entire season and get a medical redshirt. He also may be able to return for the last couple of months for the season but if the Tigers struggle as expected, there wouldn’t be any reason to waste a season of eligibility.

There’s now even more pressure on the incoming grad transfers Curran Scott and Tevin Mack. Both players scored around 9.0 ppg on their respective teams but will have to produce even more to keep Clemson afloat. It’ll also be up to 6’7 forward Aamir Simms to become a leading scorer, vastly improving on his 8.1 ppg from his sophomore campaign.

Then there’s the trio of guards from their 2019 recruiting class coming in, including four-star prospects Al-Amir Dawes and Chase Hunter. While these two could certainly have big freshmen performances, Trapp’s injury takes away any breathing room along the perimeter. If these two struggle as freshmen, Clemson is in huge trouble on a verity of fronts.

Even before the injury, few were projecting the Tigers to being an NCAA Tournament team due to the mass loss of production. Trapp’s hopeful continued development was supposed to make up for the losses but now it’ll be on unproven freshmen guards to play well out the gate. Unless someone emerges in a big way individually, the NIT in 2020 will become and impressive feat, rather than a disappointing end.