Clemson Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Tigers

Projected Starters for Clemson Basketball

Sophomore G Nick Honor (Transfer from Fordham)

Honor was a transfer from Fordham who sat out last year due to transfer rules. He was very effective as a freshman at Fordham averaging 15 points, two rebounds, three assists on 37% shooting, and 33% from three.

Honor will help out a Clemson team that was desperately thin at guard last year. But, we don’t know how good Honor will be in the ACC. As the stats he put up were inefficient while being in a non-power five conference.

We will see what Honor is made of though, as he will most likely start at point guard for Brad Brownell’s team in the upcoming 2020-2021 season.

Sophomore G  Al-Amir Dawes

Dawes was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school. He was Brad Brownell’s highest-ranked recruit from the 2019 class. And had a solid freshman year averaging nine points, two assists, two rebounds, and one steal on 38% shooting and 31% from three.

Yes, Dawes was okay. But, we need to see some more improvement from Dawes. He was very inefficient shooting last year from the field and three. Another big problem was Dawes was very streaky last year, with some games him being nowhere to be found.

If Dawes can improve on his consistency and just on his game in general. He has the tools to be one of the biggest contributors on Clemson’s team.

Junior F John Newman III

Newman averaged nine points, three rebounds, and two assists on 44% shooting and 30% from three. Newman was the third leading scorer on Clemson’s team last season. But, Brad Brownell needs Newman to produce more and be a double-digit scorer. If he can improve his three-ball, I think he could easily do that.

Newman broke out last season increasing his scoring average from 6 points his freshman to sophomore season. There is no reason he can’t do that again especially with getting more looks on offense. Newman needs to show more improvement, especially if Clemson wants to make a run at the NCAA Tournament this season.

Senior F Aamir Sims

Sims who was featured on the All-ACC third team last and was on this year’s Preseason All-ACC first team will be the star of this team, Sims averaged 13 points, seven rebounds, and two assists on 47% shooting and 40% from beyond the arc. Sims fits in that tweener mold in where he can score from the block and shoot the ball well.

Clemson will go as far as Sims will take them. As he should be able to increase his stats by even more and more than likely average a double-double for this upcoming season. If Sims can continue to produce stats like one of the ACC’s top players. Clemson could be very sneaky in ACC play this year.

Freshman C P.J. Hall

Hall was a four-star recruit from Brad Brownell’s 2020 class, ranking 54th in the nation, 11th at his position, and 1st in the state of South Carolina. Hall performed very well at the Adidas Gauntlet in 2019 averaging 14 points and eight rebounds.

Hall is a traditional big man who is physical and loves to bang inside the post. He is a very smart player, who makes the right plays and has a good shooting ability. His defense can be questionable at times, which is an area he will need to improve in. I think Coach Brownell is going to use Hall and Aamir Sims as a twin tower kind of set. Hall’s playing time in his freshman will depend on how well he can play off of Sims, who is the best player on this team.