Earlier in the decade, Clemson's performance over the past three seasons would have been described in quite different terms. Three straight NCAA Tournament appearances would have been almost a miracle for a program that finished seventh or worse in the ACC for five straight seasons.
Now, Clemson indeed enters this season having made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. But the team's performance is still described as a disappointment.
In 1996-97, Clemson reached the Sweet 16 before Minnesota eliminated them in double overtime.
Clemson began last season ranked in the top 10 in every major poll. But the 1997-98 team finished just 18-14, and the Tigers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Western Michigan.
The responsibility for improving on last year's finish falls to new head coach Larry Shyatt. Rick Barnes left Clemson to become the coach at Texas and in April, Clemson hired Shyatt, who was coaching at Wyoming last year.
His experience with the program made him a good fit for the job. Shyatt was an assistant under Barnes from 1994-1997 and has worked with eight of the nine returning lettermen, while having recruited most of the current squad. Shyatt feels this connection will make his new job somewhat easier.
"It certainly is an advantage to know the players and what they can do," he said. "Having a familiarity is a plus, especially when it comes to the players' families and background."
In 1997-98, Shyatt led Wyoming to a 19-9 record and NIT appearance. On the way to securing the school's best winning percentage in 10 years, the Cowboys defeated Utah and New Mexico. For his efforts, Shyatt was named Coach of the Year in the Mountain Division of the WAC.
He returns to the most experienced Clemson team in recent years. The Tigers return nine lettermen, including five seniors and two juniors.
The most important of the returning players are 5-foot-9 senior point guard Terrell McIntyre and 6-8 power forward Harold Jamison.
McIntyre was the driving force behind Clemson's offense last year and was the Tigers' second-leading scorer at 13.9 points per game. He is also Clemson's most dangerous outside shooter.
"Boogie earned some attention early last season as one of the top point guards in the country," Shyatt said. "This year is a great opportunity to establish that he is one of the truly special players in this country. But every night he is going to half to go out and prove it. I think he will be hungry to prove himself this year as one of the best."
Jamison was not a starter for most of the season but led the Tigers in rebounding with 7.3 boards per game. The main concern for Jamison is whether he can improve on the dreadful 48.1 percent he shot from the foul line last season.
Though the team is mostly intact, it most cope with the loss of leading scorer Greg Bucker, who averaged 16.3 points last year and was generally regarded as the Tigers' go-to guy. Though Buckner was the leader of last year's team, McIntyre thinks that losing him might actually be an advantage.
"You never know who is going to step up," he said. "I think several guys are going to step up. We have a really balanced team. Last year it seemed like at times we were just standing and watching Greg. This year everyone is going to have to focus on their game."
Jamison felt that the Tigers' occasional defensive lapses last season, not the loss of Buckner, were the primary concern.
"I think that there were times last year when we had some [defensive] slippage," Jamison said. "I think we were okay but not as good as we have been or as we could have been. But I think that happens to every ballclub, where they have some type of slippage. We have to get back to the way we played in '96-97."
McIntyre felt that last season's failures would be the biggest motivating factor for this year's team.
"We feel like we let a lot of people down," he said. "I feel like we let ourselves down and our teammates down. It's something that I still think about. We have to come in every day with a passion to improve."
Shyatt felt that the team should not dwell on last season's disappointing finish, but instead look at the specific problems and try to improve in those areas.
"I would prefer us to focus on how hard we play," Shyatt said. "What kind of condition we are in, how we defend the fast break, how we defend in the halfcourt and how we block out and become a better offensive rebounding team.
"We obviously must improve our team free-throw shooting. We shot 61 percent as a team last year, and with nine losses by five points or less that was a factor over the course of the season."
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