Clemson received an at-large bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the third straight season and will be the #8 seed in the South Region. The Tigers will face Iowa on Friday in Tampa. The winner will most likely face #1 seed Florida in the second round. The Gators on Friday will play the winner of the First Four game between Prairie View A&M and Lehigh.
Furman won its way into the tournament by capturing the Southern Conference Tournament Championship. The Paladins are in the field for the second time in the last four seasons under Bob Richey. They will be the #15 seed in the East Region and will face UConn on Friday in Philadelphia. The winner will face either UCLA or UCF on Sunday. The Paladins are 22-10 and are led in scoring by Alex Wilkins at 18 points per game.
The Bon Secours Wellness Arena will be the site of first and second round games in Greenville on Thursday and Saturday. Duke, the tournament’s overall #1 seed, will be in the East Region and will play Sienna. Also in the East, Ohio State will take on TCU in the 8-9 matchup. South Region games are also slated for Greenville. North Carolina is the #6 seed and will face VCU, and Illinois is the #3 seed and will take on Penn.
Team Notes from Clemson
- This marks the sixth time under Head Coach Brad Brownell and third consecutive season that the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will be making their 16th tournament appearance overall. All have taken place since 1980.
- Clemson enters the tournament with a 24-10 record, including an 12-6 mark in regular-season ACC games.
- RJ Godfrey (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett/Georgia) was named Honorable Mention All-ACC this season and earned career highs in many categories. The Tigers are led in scoring by Godfrey with an 11.9 average. He has seen career highs in points (406), rebounds (180), steals (22), field goal percentage (.612) and minutes (853).
- As one of just three players in the ACC to play at the same school all four years, Dillon Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) turned in a career-year for the Tigers. Hunter averaged a career-best 7.5 points per game and added a career-high 103 assists this season. Hunter raised all his shooting percentages this year, in addition to adding well over 100 rebounds. He is second on the team in steals.
- Clemson has held a mantra of “Everybody All the Time” this season, and it has certainly rung true for its success on the court. Clemson has eight players averaging at least 6.0 points per game and seven players averaging 20.0 minutes or more per game. The Tigers own a top 20 defensive rating according to Ken Pomeroy.
- The Tigers enter the tournament with 24 victories, marking the first time in school history that Clemson has won at least 23 games in four consecutive seasons. Clemson also has a 98-40 record since 2022-23 – the second-most wins in the ACC.
- Clemson’s most successful NCAA runs came in both 2024 and 1980, earning trips to the Elite Eight. In 1980, the first year Clemson was selected, the Tigers won three tournament games under head coach Bill Foster and reached the Elite Eight of the tournament before losing to UCLA. Clemson also made the Elite Eight in 2024 under Coach Brownell. The Tigers defeated New Mexico, Baylor and Arizona before losing to Alabama.
- Coach Brownell has taken three different programs to the NCAA Tournament. He previously took UNC Wilmington in 2003 and 2006, Wright State in 2007 and Clemson in 2011, 2018, 2021, 2024 and 2025. He took each school to the tournament in his first year with the program.
- Clemson holds a 14-15 record in the NCAA Tournament that includes two Elite Eight appearances and five trips to the Sweet 16.
Team Notes from Furman
- Furman (22-12) earned its eighth NCAA Tournament bid and second in the last four seasons with a 76-61 victory over No. 1 seed ETSU in the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday, March 9, in Asheville, N.C. The sixth-seeded Paladins downed No. 3 seed Samford, No. 7 seed UNC Greensboro, and the Buccaneers en route to claiming the SoCon Tournament crown.
- Freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award (national freshman of the year) and Lou Henson Award (mid-major player of the year), garnered most outstanding player honors at the SoCon Tournament. The Mattapan, Mass., native, who totaled 65 points over three games in Asheville, including a career-best 34 in the Paladins’ 81-75 triumph over UNCG in the semifinal round. Junior Cooper Bowser totaled 21 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Paladins in the championship game.
- Furman will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2023 when the No. 13 seed Paladins stunned No. 4 seed Virginia, 68-67, in opening round action in Orlando, Fla., before falling in round two against eventual national finalist San Diego State.
Men’s Tournament Bracket
