The 2018-19 Clemson women’s basketball team made history by ending the program’s long NCAA Tournament drought in Head Coach Amanda Butler’s first year at the helm. Prior to March, the Tigers had not received a berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2002, but last season’s squad, which went 20-13 overall and 9-7 in ACC play, reached the “Big Dance” as a No. 9 seed and won its first-round matchup, advancing to the second round for the first time in 18 years. All of that success, which included Butler being named ACC Coach of the Year, was monumental for a program that had been in the rebuilding phase for quite some time.
However, in typical sports fashion, the Tigers were unable to rest on their laurels and grow content with the successes of the 2018-19 slate for very long, as a new season brought forth new challenges. Three of the Tigers’ core players graduated following the conclusion of this past season, with guards Aliyah Collier and Danielle Edwards and wing player Simone Westbrook wrapping up their college tenures. That left Butler and staff to rely on fresh faces to help the Tigers build off the momentum of the 2019 March Madness run.
Naturally, the Tigers have endured adversity early on in the 2019-20 season, with Clemson losing its lone exhibition game and then going 1-2 through its first three contests of the regular season. Having to replace the wide-ranging contributions of Collier, Edwards and Westbrook has not been easy for the Tigers, leading to questions regarding whether or not Clemson will be able to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Clemson’s most instrumental returning player is power forward Kobi Thornton, who shined on both ends of the floor this past season. Interestingly, Thornton, who is a senior, has come off the bench in the early goings of the season, and the same can largely be said of junior center Tylar Bennett, who started just one of the first three matchups. Instead, Butler has relied on a young starting lineup, despite the fact that Thornton is leading the team in scoring and rebounding.
Freshman power forward Amari Robinson, who committed to the Tigers as a highly touted recruit, has combined with Thornton and redshirt sophomore center Mikayla Hayes to man the Tigers’ efforts down low. Robinson is arguably the most purely talented player on Clemson’s roster and should continue to come into her own over the course of the season. As for Hayes, the 6-foot-3-inch post player previously played under Butler with the Florida Gators and sat out last year as a redshirt.
Another transfer who is making a splash for the Tigers is sharpshooter Kendall Spray. A redshirt junior, Spray came to Clemson after suiting up for the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks and missed last season’s action due to transfer rules. In addition to being an adept passer and playmaker, Spray is a 3-point specialist and the Tigers’ best spot-up shooter. Starting in the backcourt with Spray are Shania Meertens and Destiny Thomas. Meertens is a junior-college transfer currently in her first year as a member of the Clemson program, and Thomas is one of the few experienced guards on Clemson’s roster, as the junior was a key component of last season’s team.
Off the bench for the Tigers, guard Danae McNeal, a star in the making, is contributing early in her freshman campaign. As a senior in high school, McNeal was the 2019 South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and widely regarded as on the 50 best prospects in the nation, and she is expected to lead the way for the Tigers in the coming years. Senior shooting guard Chyna Cotton is another notable component of a Clemson team that boasts plenty of depth.
With the Tigers still finding their footing in a season that is far different than the 2018-19 season that featured a veteran-laden lineup, Clemson will likely continuously progress throughout the year. For now, Butler and her staff will aim to develop a rhythm with the deep roster at their disposal and bring magic back to Littlejohn Coliseum.