Just seven days after holding a press conference to announce the shocking departure of Oliver Purnell from his position as head coach of the Clemson University basketball team, Athletics Director Terry Don Phillips held another press conference on a much more upbeat note. The conference was held to announce that Clemson has officially chosen the man who will be the 22nd head basketball coach in the University’s history.

In a national search for a new head coach, Terry Don Phillips decided that the man best suited to take the reins of a promising Tiger hoops team is Brad Brownell of Wright State University. For seasoned Tiger fans, there are many similarities between this hire and the one that brought Oliver Purnell to Clemson seven years ago. Like Purnell, Brownell has never been a head coach past the mid-major level and is moving from Dayton, Ohio to become the head coach at Clemson.

While Phillips’ search for a new basketball coach seemed almost more top-secret than Coca-Cola’s original recipe at times, he assured the media on Tuesday of his thoroughness when evaluating candidates. “The best advice you can have is from people in the coaching community. They not only coach against each other, but compete in recruiting. They know their character, they know what they stand for and they know how they prepare their teams,” Phillips said. “Going through this search, it became very evident the people in the profession feel very strongly about Brad.”

Brownell enters his position at Clemson with eight seasons of head coaching under his belt, spending four years at both UNC-Wilmington and Wright State University. During his time at both schools, Brownell has earned a 167-85 overall record as a coach, including a 15-5 record in postseason conference tournaments as well as three conference championships.

Phillips approached Brownell during the first couple days of Clemson’s search for a new basketball coach. Last week, Brownell would have never guessed he would soon be a head coach in the ACC. “This has been a whirlwind of about five or six days for me,” Brownell said at Tuesday’s press conference.

“I’m humbled by this opportunity. This is a wonderful university,” Brown exclaimed on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m taking over a basketball program that is in good shape. It’s in the best basketball league in the country, and to have that chance as a guy who grew up in southern Indiana and was a Division-III player is something I didn’t know would ever happen.”

During his eight seasons as a head coach, Brownell has failed to reach the 20-win plateau only twice. In fact, Brownell has achieved at least 20 wins with his teams five consecutive years at two different universities. Clemson fans are hoping Brownell’s success at his past jobs in the Colonial Conference and Horizon League will transfer over to success in what many consider to be the toughest basketball conference in the NCAA.

“The opportunity to coach in the ACC is wonderful in April and it’s really challenging come January or February,” Brownell jested during the press conference. “It’s exciting. I want to compete against the best. I’ve done a lot in a short amount of time in my career and now my next goal is to take a team to the Final Four. Certainly if you can play well and compete against the best in the ACC, you have every opportunity to do that.”

When asked about his coaching success along with the style that has gotten him to where he is, Brownell was reluctant to pick a specific strategy. “I have a history of doing well in conference tournaments. With my style of play, I adapt. I like versatility,” Brownell said.

The ability to adapt as a coach will be crucial for Brownell as he makes the transition to big time college basketball and inherits a team that has traditionally run a press over the past seven years. “We’ll press a little bit because these guys are used to doing it,” Brownell stated, giving a little insight to how he plans to manage Clemson’s athletically talented team on the court next season.

Brownell had the opportunity to sit down with the current Clemson basketball team for a meeting before the press conference to make a speech to the players. Many of the athletes expressed their pleasure with the new coach after the press conference. “He wants to learn as much from us as we will from him,” Tanner Smith stated on Tuesday. “Any guy that can have that two-way street is going to get the respect from a team that has been in a scramble for the past week.”

It was obvious to the team after just one meeting that Brad Brownell had already done his homework on Clemson. The coach immediately brought new ideas and explained his coaching style to the team. “He came in immediately and talked about how he has our backs as players, no matter what. He’s ready to learn from us and change his coaching style based off of what we bring to the table,” Smith said of the team’s first meeting with their new coach. “He wants us to play. He said that if we give him the energy and effort on the defensive end, he’ll give us some freedom offensively.”

When asked about Brownell taking over the Clemson basketball program, Andre Young had nothing but positive comments. “He’s such a respectable guy and he definitely wants to continue to build on what we’ve been working towards,” Young stated of his new coach. “He really emphasizes developing our skills as basketball players.”

Even with the hiring of a new coach, there is still a large question mark looming over the Clemson team concerning whether the program will retain all of its athletes after the coaching change. Rumors have circulated that Freshman Devin Booker is considering transferring to another university.

“I think everybody will stick with it. I think it was one of those meetings that was very memorable and will stick with us throughout the summer and into next season,” Smith said when asked about his teammates potentially transferring out of Clemson. “Everybody is excited. We’re ready to get to work for a new coach now.”

When asked about whether he is concerned that some of the players still consider Purnell their coach, Brownell said, “They are my players. I told them that in the meeting. They’re Clemson’s players and I am Clemson’s coach.”

Just like the players are already excited about Brownell, Clemson’s new coach has taken an immediate attachment to the athletes in his program. “I want my players to have a great experience. I want them to win, because I think that’s part of it. I want them to do well in school. I want them to graduate. I want them to get involved in the community, and I think if they do all those things they will leave college as better men and have a better experience,” Brownell stated about his new student-athletes. “I want to connect with our guys as much as possible and with everyone on campus and in the community.”

Many Clemson fans were skeptical about the quick hire of a coach who has never run a team for a college or university in a major conference. Brownell, on the other hand, was never skeptical of his love for Clemson. “Places are great because of people, and the people [in Clemson] have an undying loyalty to this school,” Brownell observed of his few encounters with Clemson before he accepted a job from the university.

The press conference on Tuesday won over many of the fans that believed that the Brownell hire was a mistake by Terry Don Phillips. The new coach’s enthusiasm and expectations for Clemson’s basketball program made it easy for the Tiger-faithful to accept their new coach.

“At the end of the day, it’s not how you collect pieces but how you make the pieces fit. And how you make the pieces fit is coaching. I have full confidence that our staff will make the pieces fit,” Brownell said during his introductory press conference.

Brad Brownell has inherited a program with all of the piece