It was a magical March for the Clemson Tigers in 2024. The No. 6 seed in the West Region of this season’s March Madness bracket, the Tigers were underdogs in each of their three victories. The Clemson men’s basketball team defeated No. 11 seed New Mexico, No. 3 seed Baylor, and No. 2 seed Arizona to reach the coveted Elite Eight, becoming just the fifth No. 6 seed to do so since 2009. Despite being a South Carolinian program, the Celmson Tigers owe their March success to the impacts of five Georgia natives.
Playing together is nothing new for Chase and Dillon Hunter. The former Westlake High School standouts followed each other to Clemson, where Chase Hunter quickly blossomed.
In this year’s tournament, Chase Hunter, a redshirt senior, scored at least 18 points in the Tigers’ wins. He also tied a career high with seven rebounds against a physical Arizona squad in the Sweet 16.
Sophomore Dillon Hunter played sparingly all season, but his clutch-and-one late in that same Sweet 16 matchup sealed a historical performance for the Tigers.
In high school, Chase Hunter was a four-star prospect who burst on the scene as a junior, averaging over 15 points and four rebounds per contest. He fielded several high-profile offers, but stayed true to his commitment to Brad Brownell and the Tigers.
Dillon Hunter, however, was arguably the more electrifying high school athlete. He averaged over 20 points per game as just a sophomore, but left Westlake in his senior season to play for Sunrise Christian in Kansas alongside Scotty Middleton, Gradey Dick, and Mark Mitchell.
The remaining three Georgia natives playing for Clemson all hail from Gwinnett County.
Junior Ian Schieffelin and sophomore Chauncey Wiggins both starred at Grayson High School, where they teamed up with Robert Cowherd and Gicarri Harris to lead the Rams to a 22-win campaign in 2021. On par with Clemson’s star forward PJ Hall, both Schieffelin and Wiggins were hailed as great shooters in high school despite being forwards.
For Schieffelin, that became obvious as a sophomore at Grayson and has carried over to his time at Clemson. He was dynamite against both New Mexico and Alabama, posting double-doubles and even playing a season-high 36 minutes against Arizona.
Wiggins was able to notch 8 points in just 11 minutes against the Wildcats, providing an early boost that allowed the Tigers to build a 13-point cushion in the first half.
Without RJ Godfrey, Clemson may not have made it past the second round. Godfrey posted 12 points in just 15 minutes in the loss to Alabama, but his four clutch free throws (despite being a 55.8% free-throw shooter) to sink Baylor were undoubtedly his highlight of the tournament.
Godfrey hails from Suwanee, where he spent an extra year with North Gwinnett High School after reclassifying to the Class of 2022. He oversaw the revival of the Bulldogs program from a 3-22 record his freshman season to a 26-4 senior campaign. His court vision and athleticism quickly drew Brad Brownell’s attention, and Godfrey officially committed to Clemson in November 2021.
A loss to No. 4 seed Alabama derailed Clemson’s hopes of a Final Four run, but the Tigers’ future appears bright. With an established pipeline from the metro-Atlanta area, Brownell and the Clemson men’s basketball team will look to return to the Elite Eight in coming years.
