Clemson basketball’s 24-11 season ended with a thud against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round. Six weeks later, Brad Brownell has already stopped looking backward. The Tigers’ roster for 2026-27 is taking shape, and the blueprint is not subtle.
Shore up the perimeter shooting. Add frontcourt depth behind a center coming off a torn ACL. Keep the bulk of a team that won 24 games and reached the ACC semifinals. That’s the plan, and Brownell is executing it with the kind of precision that makes you forget the Iowa game happened.
Four transfers are headed to Clemson. Each one addresses a specific problem.
Liutauras Lelevicius arrived first from TCU. The 6-foot-7 wing from Kaunas, Lithuania, shot 38 percent from three on 3.6 attempts per game in the Big 12. He also hit 88.7 percent of his free throws. For a Clemson team that couldn’t buy a shot in the second half against Iowa, those numbers are not incremental.
They’re the point of the whole transaction.
Lelevicius started 22 straight games for a TCU team that reached the NCAA Tournament. He dropped 23 points on five threes in a double-overtime loss to Kansas. He also got benched midway through Big 12 play, which tells you something about fit and consistency. Brownell will have to manage that. But the shooting is real, and Clemson needed it badly.
Cole Certa came next. Another shooter. Back-to-back portal swings aimed at the same problem is not a coincidence. Brownell watched his spacing collapse against Iowa and decided the band-aid approach was done.
Dylan Faulkner brings frontcourt muscle. Sanford forward. Rebounder. Plays physical on the defensive end. It’s not glamorous, but it wins games in February when bodies are sore and the glass gets violent.
Then there’s David Fuchs, the piece that might matter most. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Austrian was named WCC Newcomer of the Year at San Francisco. He averaged 12.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game with eight double-doubles. He was third in the conference in rebounding. He earned All-WCC Second Team honors. On3 rated him a top-100 transfer forward.
Clemson’s frontcourt got gutted. RJ Godfrey and Nick Davidson are gone due to eligibility. Fuchs is not a one-for-one replacement for either, but he gives the Tigers someone who has produced at a high level and knows how to rebound in a physical conference. He started 25 of 29 games as a true freshman at Rhode Island before transferring to San Francisco.
Carter Welling is back. That matters more than people realize. He was Clemson’s best shot blocker last season before tearing his ACL in March. He will miss the beginning of the season, which means Fuchs and Faulkner could be holding down the frontcourt for weeks before he returns.
The alternative, going thin at the four and five while waiting on rehab, would have been a nightmare.
Retention might be the story that matters most. Clemson held onto seven eligible players. Ace Buckner and Zac Foster are expected to take major leaps in expanded roles. The only loss was Jake Wahlin, who headed to BYU. Wahlin’s departure stung, but the Lelevicius addition more than offsets it. Guard play was a strength last season. It should be again.
Two roster spots are still open. That means Brownell is not finished.
The pattern under Brownell is to add one experienced transfer guard with one year left. Someone who steadies the ship when the moment gets tight. Brevin Galloway. Jaeden Zackery. Joseph Girard III. Jestin Porter. All one-year transfers. All brought in for a specific reason. Expect that again.
The frontcourt depth chart behind Welling and Fuchs is thin. Chase Thompson, Trent Steinour, and true freshman Will Stevens are on the roster. None of them have proven they can hold up in ACC play for extended minutes.
Another body there would not surprise anyone.
Clemson’s 2025-26 season was good by almost any measure. Top five in the ACC. 24 wins. A semifinals run in the ACC Tournament where they lost to Duke. But the Iowa loss exposed what the scouting report already said. The Tigers couldn’t shoot when it mattered. The frontcourt wasn’t deep enough to absorb major injuries.
Brownell heard the message.
Lelevicius and Certa fix the spacing. Fuchs and Faulkner add muscle and rebounding. Welling’s return gives the defense its anchor back by midseason. The returning guards get another year in the system. Two roster spots, one more guard, one more big. That’s the remaining shopping list.
The 2026-27 schedule has not yet been announced. When it drops, the non-conference slate will tell you how confident the staff is in what they’ve built. For now, the roster construction speaks for itself. Brownell is not rebuilding. He’s reloading.
The Tigers open the 2026-27 season with the schedule still to be determined. The full slate is expected to be announced later this year.
