Clemson

In the midst of all the excitement that comes with returning 11 players, Clemson still feels the effects of losing its best player—Trevor Booker—in 2010-11. The team will search for answers to replace Booker’s team-leading 15.2 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game, both of which were team-highs.

The starters returning this year for the Tigers, center Jerai Grant, guard Demontez Stitt and guard Tanner Smith, will try to pick their production to replace Booker. Stitt, who averaged 11.4 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting percentage last year, will look to fill the shoes of Booker as the top returning scorer. Grant will also play a vital role for this year’s group as he is the top returning rebounder, with 4.7 rebounds per game.

Last year’s Clemson team that tied for fifth in the conference and lost to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament will enter the season with a new coach at the helm. Brad Brownell, who left his job at Wright State, will be limited as far as freshman talent goes—Cory Stanton, who had promising numbers in high school, is the Tigers’ only freshman. A two-star recruit on Scout.com, Stanton averaged almost 24 points a game, 4.6 rebounds a game and 3.8 assists a game as a senior. In eight years of coaching Brownell is 167-85, with a winning percentage third among current active ACC coaches.

With a familiar nucleus back on the court, Clemson will try to advance past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.