Basketball season is in full swing, and this weekend is a huge opportunity for the Clemson men’s team to pick up quality non-conference wins in the 2025 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, held at
TD Arena in Charleston. The Tigers are paired with Georgia, West Virginia, and Xavier.
Clemson’s opening round matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers is a great test for Brad Brownell’s squad. No, this is not Bob Huggins’ “Press Virginia” defense that gave Big East and Big 12 teams nightmares for years, but the Mountaineers still have a pretty stout defense so far in 2025 under first-year head coach Ross Hodge. West Virginia ranks inside the top 30 nationally in defensive adjusted efficiency, effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, and offensive rebounding allowed, according to KenPom’s scouting report. The peek behind the curtain, though, reveals that West Virginia has only faced one top-200 foe so far, but that was fellow ACC nemesis Pittsburgh, whom the Mountaineers blew out at home last week.
This will be the toughest test for West Virginia in its non-conference slate. The Mountaineers will need a big night from their stud guard, Honor Huff. The 5’10” guard from Brooklyn, NY, has by far been the best player for West Virginia, leading the team in scoring with 17.2 PPG. Senior forward Brenen Lorient is the big man on the glass, leading the team in rebounds (7.4 PPG) and blocks (1.8 PPG). Senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff is another player to get an eye on.
Offensively, the Mountaineers have not been as great as their defense. They’ve only hit the 75-point mark once this season, ranking 101st in KenPom’s offensive adjusted efficiency. For as good as WVU has been on the boards defensively, they’ve been equally as bad offensively, with a 27.8% offensive rebounding percentage, only 251st in the country (for context, Clemson ranks 30th nationally at a rate of 39.3%). Clemson’s defense will offer a huge test to the Mountaineer offense.
Tipoff is set for Friday night, November 21st, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Depending on the outcome of the game Friday night, Clemson will face either Georgia or Xavier on Sunday. If the Tigers beat West Virginia, then Clemson will face the winner of Georgia-Xavier at 1 p.m. If the Tigers fall to West Virginia, then Clemson will face the loser of the Georgia-Xavier game at 3:30 p.m., or following the conclusion of the championship finale.
If the Tigers get Georgia, they will face a high-octane offense that has scored no less than 87 points in a game this season. The Bulldogs have blown the doors off four of their five opponents and knocked off their rival, Georgia Tech, as well. Georgia ranks in the top 40 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency, and its stingy defense has forced a turnover percentage of 27.9%, the second-best in the nation. That would be one of the topics to watch if we get a Clemson-Georgia finale, given how well Clemson has held the ball this season, only hitting a turnover percentage of 10.8%, good for 5th-best in the nation.
If we get a Clemson-Xavier matchup, the Tigers would face an up-and-down Musketeer team, already sitting at 3-2 with back-to-back losses to Santa Clara and Iowa. Xavier has not shot the ball well this year, posting an effective field goal percentage of 47.7%, which ranks 252nd in the country. Their two-point field goal percentage and offensive block percentage are nearly dead last in the country, and the numbers only look slightly better thanks to a 99-point outing in their last game versus Old Dominion. I don’t see the Musketeers being able to keep pace with Georgia in Friday night’s game, but stranger things could happen, I suppose. That’s why they make you play the games.
Overall, this is a great opportunity for Clemson to bolster its resume with some quality non-conference wins. After losing to Georgetown, Clemson will need these wins badly, especially with a road trip to Alabama and a neutral-site matchup at Madison Square Garden with BYU looming at the beginning of December. The quality of Clemson’s non-conference opponents will be very good, especially if the Tigers get Georgia this weekend, but it’s all for nothing if they can’t pick up those marquee wins.
