The Clemson Tigers went 27-7 overall in the 2024-25 college basketball season and 18-2 in ACC play, giving them a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Sure, they had a bit of a disappointing showing in the ACC Tournament to not even make it to the Championship, but the Tigers had a roster seemingly capable of making noise in the NCAA Tournament. That, obviously, did not happen.
Not only did it not happen, but the Tigers were embarrassed by No. 12 McNeese State. They might have only lost by two points in the end, but much of this game was a mismatch. The Tigers trailed 31-13 at the end of the first half, falling behind by more points than they were able to score. They played much better in the second half, obviously, but Brad Brownell's squad looked as if it didn't even belong in the NCAA Tournament in that first half.
The players deserve immense blame for that, obviously, but Brownell also simply did not have his guys ready. There's no disputing that Clemson was the more talented team, so falling behind to the degree that they did was simply unacceptable.
Brownell's team underperforming like this makes it abundantly clear that the Indiana Hoosiers were right to look in another direction in their head coaching search.
Indiana's decision to pass on Brad Brownell was justified thanks to embarrassing Clemson loss
When it was revealed that Mike Woodson was going to be stepping down from Indiana's head coaching position, Brownell looked like the favorite to replace him, and it isn't hard to see why.
Brownell is not only from Indiana, but he was an assistant coach for two teams in his home state in the 1990s. Brownell has also led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years and four of the last eight after a six-year drought. The Hoosiers would've been somewhat justified turning to a head coach who has had a good amount of success in Clemson, especially when he has ties to the state.
However, Brownell's team's performance on Thursday makes Hoosiers fans feel a lot better about the school's decision to pass on him and instead hire Darian DeVries to replace Woodson. DeVries is coming off successful stints with two different programs, and makes sense as a head coach who can lead the Hoosiers for many years to come.
Whether DeVries turns out to be the right hire remains to be seen, but Hoosiers fans have reason to be more bought into him than Brownell after seeing how Clemson's season ended.