Yes, Chef: Ian Schieffelin's big campaign continues in comeback win

Ian Schieffelin notched his seventh double-double of the season Tuesday. His lone double-double last season was in the opener versus the The Citadel.

by Brooks Thomason - Correspondent - Wed Feb 28 07:00:03 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON - Ian Schieffelin was cooking inside Littlejohn Coliseum Tuesday night, picking up a crucial ACC victory against Pitt, 69-62.

Quickly becoming a force in the ACC, Schieffelin’s nickname, “The Chef,” is picking up steam after another impressive performance. The junior from Loganville, Georgia, has received recognition across the ACC for being the most improved player in the conference.

Tuesday night against Pitt, Schieffelin continued the heat in the kitchen. He notched 15 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists while shooting 5-9 from the field. In 31 minutes, Schieffelin played pivotal defense and in the late stretch and helped Clemson earn its 10th win in the ACC.

Clemson went into halftime down four points but returned with renewed energy in the second half. Schieffelin keyed his contributions to a second-half comeback, where he scored 13 points and secured eight crucial rebounds in a tightly contested game on the boards.

In terms of accomplishments, the forward notched his 13th double-digit rebound game and seventh double-double of the season. Last year, he only had one double-double.

Speaking on his improvements this season, Schieffelin joked late Tuesday about old teammate Hunter Tyson stealing his stats.

“Hunter Tyson used to grab every rebound, last season he grabbed every rebound…the offseason work, getting in shape and work on being more vertical (have all contributed this year),” Schieffelin said.

Teammate PJ Hall raved about playing for someone with his work ethic.

“It’s also having a freaking dog in you. Tell you what, not a lot of people have that like Ian Schieffelin. It’s a lot of fun to play with,” Hall said.

Coach Brad Brownell praised the junior, going on about his athleticism.

“He’s a better athlete than people think, especially vertically…what’s fun is seeing him become a better basketball player, making a big-time three, backing a guy down and scoring in the paint, over the top of a good athlete, those are big-time basketball plays,” Brownell said.

Schieffelin helped Clemson earn its 20th win of the season. The junior posts impressive season averages: 9.6 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, including shooting 58% from the field, and 53% from beyond the arc.

Next up for Clemson is a trip to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame. Last year, Schieffelin posted 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks against the Fighting Irish. He looks to keep up his good history and momentum going into Saturday night’s ACC matchup at the Joyce Center (7:45 p.m./TheCW).

No better way to cap it off than a @Jack5Clark_ touchdown pass for the @ian_schieffelin slam! #ClemsonGRIT 😤 pic.twitter.com/qFcYQTYBZh
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) February 28, 2024