Clemson AD updates latest with Clemson and COVID-19 effect, basketball program

Clemson's AD says he is pleased with basketball program and awaits word on scholarship situation. (Photo: Jeremy Brevard / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Mar 18 14:10:59 GMT-04:00 2020

Clemson Athletic Director Dan Radakovich participated in a series of calls with the media Wednesday afternoon, and TigerNet covered a variety of topics in the allotted time. That includes head basketball coach Brad Brownell, spring sports, and the plans for football.

The following is an edited transcript of the call:

Q: Has there been talk about extending the deadline for purchasing football tickets?

A: Yes, there has been, and hopefully in the next day or so we can finalize that and communicate that to our ticket-buying public and our IPTAY-donating group.

Q: What do you know about the senior athletes who play spring sports and their ability to not only retain a scholarship but perhaps play another year?

A: We are gathering feedback right now on that subject. I don't know the timing on the final disposition of it, but I know I spoke with President Clements this morning and I know that was a subject as it relates to increased eligibility. I think all of those things, while there is certainly merit associated with it, it has to be balanced with some changes in other NCAA guidelines such as roster limits and scholarship numbers. I think you can't do one without the other. So those are going to be topics that are going on right now, and it's kind of ticketed for some decision-making next week.

Q: Is there a chance that basketball will be included in that, or is just spring sports?

A: I haven't gotten into that and President Clements and I haven't gotten into that, even though I think we will over the next 48 hours. But I think the idea of the spring sports certainly has merit and there is some merit with the winter sports, but a lot of those student-athletes have had a full season of competition, just not a championship segment. So, I think that there will be good discussions on both sides of that.

Q: Is there a chance football could resume practice this spring or early summer or is it done until August camps start?

A: As quickly as we made the decision to cancel, if there was a huge change in the national circumstance we can. consider those things. But I will be honest with you and say that is not part of our thought process right now. We are trying to make sure that our student-athletes get back here and get into our e-learning environment. Our university facilities are closed until at least April 5th, and we will make some decisions on that in the coming days whether to keep that as a hard date or extend it. So those are all more primary decisions before we get to any type of other things as far as bringing practices back together.

Q: Has anyone associated with Clemson athletics - coaches, players, support staff, admin - tested positive for the coronavirus?

A: Not as far as I know.

Q: Have you had your sit-down, end-of-year meeting with Brad Brownell?

A: I haven't. Brad and I spoke by phone a couple of days ago. He is, as all our head coaches are, in making sure our student-athletes get off on the right foot when they return next Monday. We will sit down and look at what we can do to help assist the program in moving. We will pick it up from there and see what we can do to make our basketball program better. I am really excited about some of the things that can come forward with that program in the coming year,

Q: How would you respond to fans who ask your expectations of Brownell and the Clemson program? Are any metrics involved?

A: There is no hard and fast metric and I think people have to be embedded in the program to understand this past year had an awful lot of injuries associated with it. There were some bright points and some not-so-bright points. You have to look at the overall management of the program. We have student-athletes who come in there and they are great in the community and they graduate and they do really positive things. We want to make sure that we have a basketball program that is competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally. And I think we have that. So, there are a lot more factors than 'win x, lose y' that go on day to day when you are embedded in the program. That is the decision and that is where we are going and we are looking forward to bringing in a couple of highly-ranked players and a number of our student-athletes are coming back I think the future is really bright for our program but time will tell.

Q: Are there any facilities updates that need to be noted?

A: Not really. Our soccer project continues to go on and we will meet with our board in April to talk about the moving forward of that project in Memorial Stadium. The planning and those kinds of things continue to move ahead and we will have more information on that in the coming weeks.